


Next Time, Take the Stairs

by courtinator



Series: Next Time... [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Broken Bones, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Gen, Gunshot Wounds, Humor, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Nick Fury is Not Amused, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Avengers (2012), Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Snarky Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Steve Rogers gives good hugs, Team as Family, inaccurate science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 73,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27298723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtinator/pseuds/courtinator
Summary: A kidnapping attempt could alter the Avengers team forever.
Relationships: Avengers Team & Original Female Character(s), Bruce Banner & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers & Tony Stark
Series: Next Time... [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190294
Comments: 33
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

Celia pressed the elevator button, waiting for a car to take her up to the 52nd floor. She adjusted the strap on her messenger bag, it having shifted a little during her last sprint to get to the building after her slow start that morning. Her session started at 10am and with the speed of the elevators, she knew she would be a few minutes late. It wasn’t a huge deal, her patient was pretty flexible, having made her wait numerous times as he took a last second phone call, but she hated being anything but punctual. A group of teen girls came up to wait for an elevator next to her, giggling to each other about who knows what. Celia smiled a little, thinking back to her own teen years and her small group of friends at school. The elevator doors opened up and she let the girls get in first, hating being stuck in the back of a crowded car. As the doors slid closed, a man’s voice calling out “wait” had her arm thrust out stopping them, giving the man a chance to slip into the elevator at the last minute.

“Thank you,” he said, giving her a little nod before standing to face the now closed doors.

“Floor?” Celia asked, gesturing to the buttons she was standing in front of.

“Oh, floor 48. Thank you ma’am,” he answered, looking a little flustered. She pressed the button and leaned against the side of the car, settling in for the long ride up. The girls in the back had gone quiet, whispering to each other and pointing to the man. Celia hid a smile behind her hand, noticing the man blushing and shifting his weight. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked like the man could, his discomfort climbing with each floor they passed. Thankfully, the girls were getting off on the 3rd floor, so his torture was short lived. They rushed past him with a giggle, turning to wave a little as the doors closed. The man sagged slightly, breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness. I was worried they were the ones going to the 52nd floor,” he said, smiling over at her.

“No, I guess you’re just stuck with me for now,” Celia said laughing. “Don’t worry, I don’t think they knew who you were, they just thought you were cute.” The man’s eyes darted over toward her, looking a little nervous.

“Wha- I don’t understand,” he said, crossing his arms and facing her.

“Sorry, I know it’s supposed to be a secret, but I heard some chatter about a V.I.P. being here today when I was here last week and I saw that magazine cover with that half of your face uncovered during the battle of New York and I just figured it out. I promise I won’t tell anyone,” Celia babbled, feeling uncomfortable. She shouldn’t have said anything, but she figured he had a right to know there were some loose lips around the building. He seemed to deflate even more, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Thank you for telling me. I guess I might have to rethink settling my business affairs here. I know I’m not gonna hear the end of this,” he groaned, picking himself back up to stand straight. He extended a hand toward her. “I’m Steve.”

*

“Celia,” the woman answered, shaking his hand. Steve stepped back, leaning his back against the side of the elevator, across from his ride companion. He was never gonna hear the end of this from Tony. He had insisted on finding his own accountant to deal with his years of back pay and help him invest and set up accounts. Steve was still uncomfortable living in Stark Tower, having been manipulated into accepting the offer with words of team bonding and safety in numbers. The last thing he wanted to do was have Tony take on the burden of figuring out all his affairs. They had all been living together in the month since the battle, except for Thor who was off world. It was still pretty awkward, Steve trying to catch up on everything he missed during his 70 year nap and Tony teasing him every chance he got. He had met with the accountant briefly, who had assured him that he would be discreet when he realized who he was dealing with when Shield transferred the paperwork, but evidently they had different definitions of the word discretion.

“I’m sure other people won’t recognize you. I just happen to be good with faces,” Celia said shrugging. “But I’m sure the girls falling all over themselves around you isn’t new.” Steve ducked his head, feeling his cheeks heat up. He still wasn’t used to the attention he got after receiving the serum, having been invisible to the opposite sex beforehand.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sure you’re used to a lot of attention, being a beautiful woman.” Steve smiled, seeing that he made Celia blush as well. Natasha had tried to teach him the art of flirting one night, but he was too intimidated by her to practice the techniques, even at her gentle prodding. And he was convinced she had a thing with Barton and he didn’t want to disrespect it. “So what are you here for?” he asked, desperately ready for a safer conversation subject.

“I’m a physical therapist,” she answered, gripping the strap of her bag a little. “I make house calls, or in this case, office calls.”

“You seem a little young to be a physical therapist,” he said, taking in her youthful appearance.

“Not everyone looks their age these days,” she said with a smile, tilting her head toward him slightly. He chuckled, having walked right into that one. He glanced at the elevator numbers, noticing they were passing the 25th floor already.

“Last time I was here, this thing stopped on almost every floor to let people on and off,” Steve noted.

“Yeah, this is a little strange,” Celia agreed. “Maybe it’s our lucky day. I could hit some extra floors along the way if you’d like me to. Make the ride a bit more typical.”

“No thanks, I think I’ll just enjoy the quick ride with a lovely companion,” he said, smiling at her blushing face once again. Maybe this flirting thing wasn’t so hard. He doubted anyone would believe him if he told them of his success. The elevator started to slow, approaching the 32nd floor.

“You just had to jinx us,” Celia laughed, shaking her head. He shrugged and mouthed “sorry”, standing up straight again. The doors opened and a short, middle aged man stepped in, gripping a sleek black medical bag. He walked to the back of the car, standing in the middle. “Floor?” Celia asked, pointing to the buttons again.

“I’m sure wherever you’re going will suffice,” the man said, glancing over at Steve. 

“Excuse me?” Steve asked, getting a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. The man just smiled back at him, fingering the handle of his bag and rocking back and forth on his heels. Celia huffed out a nervous laugh, looking back and forth between the two of them. Steve slid slowly in front of her, blocking her from the man. “You know, I think this is our stop,” he said, pointing toward the elevator buttons with his head.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man said casually, dipping his hand into his bag and pulling out a gun. “I’d actually prefer if you’d step away from the door altogether.” Steve felt Celia tense up behind him and he raised his hands in surrender, ready to pounce at the first opportunity. The man gestured to the left with his gun, herding them into a back corner of the elevator. Steve and Celia moved together, keeping himself in the middle.

“Who are you?” Steve asked, glaring at the man. He hated not having his shield right now, but he was confident he could handle this without it.

“I’m just a man with a job to do,” he answered, hitting the emergency stop button, bringing the elevator ride to a halt.

“Whatever it is you’re planning on doing, I can assure you it’s a bad idea,” Steve warned, feeling his adrenaline rise in anticipation of the upcoming fight.

“I think I’m willing to take that chance, Captain,” the man sneered, raising the gun to point at his head. Celia gasped, peeking over his shoulder to see the gun. This would be so much easier to deal with if there were no innocent bystanders, but there wasn’t anywhere safe he could put Celia to keep her out of harm's way. “If you come quietly, the girl doesn’t have to get hurt. I’d hate to have to waste one of my special bullets on her, but I will.”

“What’s so special about them?” Steve asked, looking to stall and find out more information about who this guy was. Was he working alone or with a team? Was he an evil genius that found some way to take out a super soldier? As far as Steve knew, a bullet was a bullet and it could kill you if you knew where to shoot.

“It’s actually my own prototype,” the man answered giddily, like he was happy to have an audience to brag in front of. “Each little bullet is full of electricity and gives the victim a jolt strong enough to knock them unconscious. So I’m going to shoot you and take you back to my lab, where I can study you and remake my own army of super soldiers. Aren’t I brilliant?” Steve took a moment to appreciate the fact that the real geniuses he knew, Tony and Bruce, weren’t psychopaths like this guy. That they used their smarts for good instead of evil.

“If you’re as smart as you say you are, why don’t you come with me and show your invention to some of my associates? You can help people instead of hurt them,” Steve offered, trying to appeal to this man’s humanity. The man frowned, looking like he was considering his offer. Steve shifted ever so slightly forward, trying to get in grabbing distance of the gun. He needed to be able to disarm him fully, a discharge meaning a possible ricochet in this metal box. He heard Celia’s breathing pick up minutely, staying frozen in place behind him. Steve was happy she was able to keep her cool in this situation, instead of becoming hysterical, even though he wouldn’t blame her if she was. Most people didn’t know how to handle stressful encounters like this.

“I think…” the man started, tilting his head a little, “I like my plan best.” Steve lunged forward for the gun as a loud bang sounded and he was jerked back by a stinging pain in his left shoulder. A quiet grunt behind him made him turn, seeing Celia crumple to the floor in the corner of the elevator.

“No!” Steve gasped, kneeling over her and seeing a bright patch of red bloom in the center of her white t-shirt. He pressed a hand on the wound, feeling a jolt of electricity sting him as her body started to shake with convulsions. The bullet had gone through his shoulder and went straight into Celia’s heart. Steve watched helplessly as the shuddering of her body stopped and her head listed to the side, eyes open and unseeing.

“Too bad, the electricity has a bit of a delay. I’ll have to make a note about that,” the man commented, dispassionately. Steve felt him nudge the back of his head with the gun. “Time to go to sleep Captain.” The man shifted the gun to press against Steve’s uninjured shoulder, pointing down a little to get the bullet to stay in his body this time. Steve braced himself for impact, unable to maneuver his body to disarm the man in this position with his injury. A sudden gasp startled them both, distracting them from their next moves. Celia sat up with a shout, clutching at her chest and looking around with wild eyes.

“What!” the man yelled, dropping the gun from Steve’s back. This was the chance he needed, driving his head back into the man’s chest while the gun was pointed away from him. The man grunted, the air forced out of his lungs. Steve pivoted on one foot, grabbing at the man’s wrist with his injured arm. He threw a haymaker at the side of the man’s head, not holding back like he normally did while fighting humans. He heard a sickening crunch and the man dropped like a stone. Steve stifled a gag, having felt his skull cave in a little from that hit. 

“Ahh!” Celia cried, bringing his attention back to where she laid. She was writhing around on the floor, scratching at her chest in obvious pain. Her eyes were squeezed shut with tears leaking out and rolling into her sweat soaked hair.

“What is happening?” Steve whispered, staring at the woman he was sure was dead just a minute ago. He fumbled his cell phone out of his pocket, hand shaking as he called the first number on speed dial.

“Why Cap, I’m honored that you called! But if this is about your shoddy accountant, I’m gonna warn you, you will be receiving as many “I told you so’s” as I see fit.”

“Tony,” Steve breathed out, stopping Tony’s monologue in its tracks.

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked, now sounding fully alert and serious. Celia whimpered out a cough, banging her head on the floor of the elevator. “What the hell was that?”

“I need you to come to the building my accountant is in. And bring Shield.”

“What happened?” Tony asked, yelling orders to Jarvis in the background of the call.

“I don’t know. We’re in the elevator,” Steve answered, hitting end on the call and cutting off Tony's questions. He knew it was rude to just hang up, but he couldn’t deal with the sound of Tony’s yelling anymore. His shoulder was throbbing and the blood loss was making him a little light headed. He turned his attention back to Celia, who was still jerking weakly and gasping for air. She suddenly fell silent, eyes closed and completely limp. Steve reached over to check her pulse, praying he didn’t just watch her die, again. As soon as his fingers touched her skin, Celia shot up, scooting away to lean against the corner.

“What the fuck!” she panted, staring down at her bloody chest.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, feeling himself tremble slightly from shock and confusion. Celia looked up at him, eyes wide and panicked. She reached up to grab the hem of her shirt and pulled it off over her head. Steve looked away, his sense of decorum ingrained in him since childhood.

“What the fuck,” Celia said again, surprised. Steve turned back, his curiosity overriding his politeness.

“What the fuck?” he repeated. The bullet wound was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

This was not how Celia imagined her day going. When the man came onto the elevator with the gun, she was shocked, but didn’t panic. This was easy compared to the other stuff the Avengers had to deal with, right? In normal circumstances, she would be trying to talk down the madman, get him to abandon his plans by humanizing his potential victims. But she let Steve take the lead, seeing as how he was a legitimate super hero. She even thought it was going well, until the bullet slammed into her chest. To say it was shocking would be an understatement. The gunshot was the worst pain she ever felt and Steve pressing on it as the electricity assaulted her ratcheted it up times ten. She didn’t remember much after that, her vision going dark pretty quickly. But if she thought she knew pain before, it was nothing compared to what she felt when she woke up. Celia woke abruptly, like when you’re not quite asleep and dream you’re falling, jolting her body back up. Then came the real pain, as if hands were inside her chest, manipulating the pieces. It was all she could do to keep breathing, fighting against the immense pressure and shifting of her bones. She was completely unaware of her surroundings, the only thing in her life was the agony. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. There was no pain anymore, not even a twinge of discomfort. Celia laid back, trying to make sense of what just happened when she felt a finger on her neck and she sat up, moving away from the hand. 

“What the fuck!” she panted out, looking down at her body covered in blood. Her once white t-shirt now red and soaked. She looked up and met Steve’s eyes, him looking as confused and panicked as she felt. She looked down again, needing to see what was under all the blood. Celia pulled her shirt off, searching her chest for the bullet wound. All she found was unmarred skin, not even a cut.   
“What the fuck.” Steve turned to look at her now, eyeing her chest with a stunned face.

“What the fuck?” he whispered, seeing the wound gone as well. Celia bunched her shirt up, using the cleaner back side to wipe off as much blood as she could. There was no way there wasn’t a bullet wound anymore. She felt it go in, she was covered in blood. Once the blood was mostly gone, there still was no visible injury. She shook out the shirt, searching for the hole when she heard a soft clatter next to her feet. Steve reached down, picking up a small bullet fragment.

“I feel like saying “what the fuck” is getting a little redundant right now, but what the fuck!” Celia hissed, rummaging around in her bag to find an extra shirt to put on.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, sounding tired and concerned. Celia let out a soft laugh, grabbing a towel from her bag. She scooted closer to Steve, pressing the towel against both sides of his wound. He bit back a groan, leaning into her a little.

“I take it this sort of thing hasn’t happened before?” she asked, tilting her head toward her chest.

“Not that I know of,” he answered, running his hand through his hair. “Although I haven’t even been out of the ice for two months at this point. For all I know, this is normal now.”

“I can assure you, it’s not,” Celia said, glancing over at the man laying motionless next to them. “Is he dead?” Steve nodded, fiddling with the bullet in his hand. 

“I’m so sorry you got hurt Celia,” Steve said quietly. “I should’ve been able to get you out of this safely.”

“The bullet went through you Steve. I don’t think there is anything you could do to prevent that,” she argued, not wanting to hear him beat himself up over something he couldn’t change. Just then, the elevator came back to life, sending them down a few floors. Steve tensed up, reaching for the man’s gun. The doors swished open, revealing Iron Man surrounded by men with guns pointed into the car.

“Step away from the Captain,” Iron Man commanded, raising a glowing hand to point toward her head.

“Shit,” Celia breathed, frozen in place. She didn’t want to stop the pressure on Steve’s wounds, but she also didn’t want to take a laser to the face. One shot was enough for her, thank you very much.

“Tony don’t!” Steve yelled, pulling himself to his feet. Celia stood with him, keeping the towel pressed into his shoulder. “She’s not a threat.”

“Jarvis, take in every detail of this room for me,” Iron Man said, scanning around the small elevator. “And get me vitals on Cap.” Iron Man walked into the car, avoiding the puddles of blood. He flipped the faceplate up on his helmet, giving himself an unimpeded view of the scene. “Jarvis says you should live, yay, but your friend on the ground here wasn’t so lucky. Mind telling me what the hell happened?”

“Not here,” Steve said, glancing toward the ceiling where the cameras would be. “We need to lock this down. Get all footage of this to our database and wipe the building’s. Find out everything we can about this man and if he had any associates. Highest clearance level only.” Iron Man looked at Steve, surprised by the seriousness of his instructions.

“Understood. Do what you need to do Jarvis,” Iron Man said, striding out of the room to talk to the men with guns outside. Steve motioned for Celia to leave the elevator with him, stepping carefully around the dead body. She stuck to his side, unwilling to let him start bleeding freely again. The lights of the hallway seemed so bright after their ordeal in the elevator. Thankfully it was a quiet floor and there were no looky loos standing around. Suddenly she was grabbed around one of her arms, one of the men with guns was pulling her away from Steve.

“Wait!” she yelled, startled. Steve turned and grabbed her other arm, pulling her behind him and away from the men. The towel she was holding fell from her hands, but she couldn’t pick it up while Steve was holding her back.

“What the hell are you doing?” Steve boomed out, standing at full height and squaring up against the men.

“She needs to come with us for questioning,” the man answered, looking toward the others for support. 

“She’s staying with me,” Steve answered, leaving no room for argument. The men looked toward Iron Man, who just shrugged back at them.

“We’ll set something up later,” Iron Man assured, dipping down to pick up the bloody towel. He walked over to the other elevator and pressed the down button. “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” The elevator doors opened and the three of them stepped on, settling in for the ride back down. Celia wasn’t too excited to be back on an elevator, but she also didn’t want to have to walk down dozens of flights of stairs. She fidgeted restlessly, not knowing what to do with her hands now that she had no towel to hold against Steve’s wound. The Iron Man suit started coming apart while they stood, uncovering the billionaire underneath. Celia tried not to stare, amazed by the mechanics.

“Happy’s waiting downstairs with a car,” Tony Stark said once the suit was secure in a briefcase. He tossed the bloody towel to Steve, hitting his chest before it fell into his uninjured hand. 

“Thanks,” Steve said quietly, balling up the towel. Celia wanted to grab it to put back on his wound, but it looked like the bleeding had almost stopped, so she held back. She gripped the strap of her bag, nervous about what was going to happen next. Would they just kill her to keep this quiet? The Avengers didn’t seem like the type to do that, being the good guys and all, but maybe not keeping any loose ends was how they maintained that image. Could she even be killed anymore? She was pretty sure she just was not too long ago, but here she was, alive and mostly well. The elevator dinged and opened, letting them out in a garage level. Celia was glad they wouldn’t have to walk out through the lobby, two of them obviously bloody. A sleek town car was waiting for them, just a few steps from the elevator. Tony strode confidently toward it, sliding into the front seat. Steve gently bumped her elbow, gesturing for her to follow him to the car.

“Try not to get too much blood on my interior, I just got it detailed,” Tony said, slamming the car door with a loud bang. The sound echoed through the garage, making Celia’s steps stutter a little. It sounded a bit too much like the gunshot earlier, her hands getting a little clammy as she flashed back to that moment.

“Come on, it’ll be fine,” Steve said, putting a hand on the small of her back to guide her into the back seat. She slid over, making room for Steve to climb in beside her. She took a closer look at his wound now that she had a chance. It looked like it had mostly clotted, no more fresh blood oozing out. 

“I think I’ve been patient enough,” Tony said, turning in his seat and eyeing them both. The driver smoothly merged into traffic, driving further into the city. 

“I’d rather wait so I don’t have to tell the story twice,” Steve grumbled, cradling his left arm in his right hand and leaning forward to keep from resting his bloody back on the fancy leather seats.

“Fine, but I’m gonna want details. No glossing over facts, no downplaying anything. I want it all,” Tony said, slouching back into his seat with his arms crossed. She caught him stealing quick looks in the rearview mirror at them, a scowl permanently etched on his face. Celia clasped her hands around her knees, hating the feeling of the blood drying on them. 

The rest of the car ride was ridden in silence, thankfully. Celia wasn’t planning on saying anything to anyone unless she was asked a direct question. She had a feeling everyone would want to hear the story from Steve. And she was pretty nervous about meeting the whole Avengers team. Steve was alright, pretty normal for a super human. Tony was intense and intimidating, but that wasn’t surprising, given he was a billionaire businessman. You didn’t get to that point being soft spoken and timid. The car pulled into a private garage under Stark Tower, filled with rows of fancy cars and a couple nondescript ones as well. Tony immediately leapt out of the car, eager to get to where they were going so he could get the information he was waiting for. Celia hurried out of the car, rushing around to offer Steve help if he needed it. He was practically out by the time she made it to his side, waving her off with a small smile. She heard about the serum and his healing abilities when she was in school learning about the war, but she knew he had to be in pain, even if he was trying not to show it. Tony snapped his fingers from the elevator doors and they climbed in, Celia standing in the back corner.

“What floor, sir?” a disembodied voice asked, making her jump a little. Tony and Steve stared at her, making her feel a little embarrassed.

“Sorry. I think I’ve developed a bit of an elevator phobia today,” she said with a grimace, hugging her body to try to center herself. Steve moved over to stand by her, nudging her arm a little. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but she could tell it didn’t look genuine.

“Tell everyone to meet us in the penthouse. Emergency meeting,” Tony said to the voice, standing in the center of the elevator as it started its ascent. “The wonder twins wanted to come with me when you called, but I had them hold back just in case. And Banner is not going to be happy when he sees that shoulder.”

“I’ll be fine after a few stitches,” Steve answered, brushing off his concern. The ride in this elevator was quick, not having to worry about any stops and being state of the art. As much as Celia wanted to be out of the tiny death box, she wasn’t looking forward to what was coming. The elevator slowed to a stop, the doors opening to reveal the rest of the Avengers, standing at intense attention. This was going to be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve was not looking forward to telling the team about what happened. Part of it was a pride issue, not happy with himself that he wasn’t able to handle the situation without a casualty and injury. He fought literal aliens a month ago and was fine, but one guy with a gun in an elevator and he comes out with a bullet wound. But he really wasn’t looking forward to telling them about what happened to Celia. He didn’t even know what happened. This was something he was completely unprepared for. If he was being honest, he was scared to tell them about that part. He mostly trusted the team, but he wasn’t sure how they would react. Would they want to turn her over to Shield for testing? Would they see her as a threat they needed to take care of? He didn’t know and he was not looking forward to finding out the answer.

Tony strode out of the elevator doors, heading straight for the wet bar to pour himself a drink. Steve would’ve joined him, if alcohol had any effect on him anymore. Bruce shuffled him over to a couch, fussing over his shoulder like the mother hen he was. 

“Who’s this?” Natasha called over her shoulder, still standing in front of the elevator with Clint. Celia was leaning against the corner of the elevator, looking like she’d love to disappear into the floor.

“She’s with me,” Steve answered, trying to stand before Bruce put a hand on his good shoulder, stopping him. He glared a little at the scientist, not liking being babied. Bruce just glared back, not letting his tough guy act slide. “Just let her through, okay?” Natasha slunk back into the room, perching on one of the stools by the bar.

“Welcome to our humble abode,” Clint said, opening his arms wide to present the room to Celia. 

“It’s my abode and it is anything but humble,” Tony called from the bar, knocking back a shot of something before pouring himself a refill. Clint just rolled his eyes, motioning for Celia to follow him. She reluctantly followed, staying apart from the team, but still in the same room. 

“Are you hurt too?” Bruce asked her, gesturing to the blood stains on her shirt.

“Um...no?” she answered, making it sound more like a question than a definitive answer. The rest of the team stared at her, not understanding her reply.

“Okay, I think the wait is over,” Tony declared, walking over to the sitting area with a full glass. “I want the story, now.” Steve groaned, knowing he couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Celia and I were on an elevator when a man came on,” he started.

“You were the only ones on the elevator?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah, and we had been for about 30 floors,” he answered. “She asked him what floor he was going to, because he hadn’t pushed a button. He said whatever one I was headed to would be fine. That was weird, so I was going to get Celia off of the elevator before I confronted him, but then he took out his gun. He made us move over so he could hit the emergency stop.”

“Did he know who you were or was this random?” Clint asked.

“He called me Captain,” Steve said with a frown. This secret identity stuff was really not working out for him. “He said he had a job to do, that he was going to take me back to his lab and use me to make more super soldiers.”

“How did he expect to get you to go with him? Hold you at gunpoint? Take a hostage?” Bruce asked, glancing over at Celia, who was still standing a little ways from the group.

“He had developed special bullets with electricity. I guess to try to knock me out with them so I would be easy to transport. I tried to talk him out of it-”

“Of course you would try to negotiate with a crazed gunman!” Tony interrupted, taking a sip of his drink.

“Didn’t I hear about you having a nice little monologue with Loki, right before he threw you out a window?” Clint asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I was stalling for time,” Tony justified, looking offended.

“So was I,” Steve said, getting back to his story. “I was this close to being able to grab the gun, but he fired as I made a move for it. And I was hit.” Steve paused to look over at Celia, who was looking pale. “We were hit.” Everyone turned to look at Celia, who took a small step back.

“You said you weren’t hurt,” Bruce said, looking between Steve and Celia, confused.

“I’m not, not anymore.”

“Explain, cause I’m getting really annoyed with this cryptic shit,” Tony spat out, downing the rest of his drink.

“The bullet went through me and into Celia’s chest. She went down and it was shocking her and then it stopped. I could’ve sworn she was gone, but a few seconds later she was sitting up and screaming,” Steve rushed out, wanting to get the words out of him as fast as possible. Celia looked like she was going to be sick, reliving what they went through.

“Okay, so the bullet didn’t really hit her, it just shocked her?” Clint asked, trying to make sense of the details.

“No, the bullet went into her heart. I saw the wound, I had my hand on it!”

“Well Cap, maybe you were so shocked about getting to second base with a woman that you got confused,” Tony quipped, earning a slap on the back of the head from Natasha.

“This isn’t funny Stark! She was dead and then she...came back,” he yelled, not in the mood for Tony’s jokes.

“That’s impossible,” Bruce said, shaking his head and pacing a little in front of the couch. “If she was shot in the chest, at that close of range, she wouldn’t be standing here, completely fine.” Steve looked over to Celia again, where she looked ready to run off. He couldn’t blame her, this was something no one would be prepared for.

“I was there and I saw it. I felt the blood coming out, I felt her bones moving. I watched her die and then I watched her come back. After all we’ve seen in our lives, what makes this the unbelievable thing?” Steve asked tiredly, putting his face in his hands. He felt so wrung out, needing his team to trust his word instead of question him.

“Okay,” Bruce said, taking charge of the situation, “Natasha, I want you to stitch up Steve. Just close up the wounds and the serum will take care of the rest. Celia, could you come sit down next to Steve so I can check you over a bit? Nothing invasive, is that alright?” Celia nodded, slowly walking over to the couch and sitting on the opposite end. Natasha left to go grab the med kit in Tony’s lab, the best stocked one in the tower. Celia quickly pulled her shirt off and Steve covered his eyes.

“We should give you privacy,” he stammered out, hoisting himself off of the couch as best he could in his condition.

“Wait,” Celia said, grabbing his hand and pulling him back down onto the couch. “It’s fine, I’m wearing a sports bra. I wear this at the gym.” Steve gave her a small nod, still averting his gaze to be polite. Tony had no such qualms, walking across the room to watch over Bruce’s shoulder.

“Where did the bullet hit you?” Bruce asked, using his best doctor voice. As often as he complained that he wasn’t a medical doctor, he could never say no when one of them needed help.

“Right here,” Celia answered, pointing to the center of her chest. There was still nothing there besides smooth, unblemished skin.

“Maybe you thought you were hit when Cap’s blood got on you and you went into shock?” Clint mused, peeking around Tony a little to see what everyone was looking at. Celia wordlessly started to rummage through her bag, grabbing the balled up and bloody shirt she had been wearing earlier. She flattened it out, putting her finger through the hole left by the bullet. 

“Okay, then is the bullet still in you?” Tony asked, still looking skeptical. Steve pulled the bullet out of his pocket, holding it out on his palm. “So the bullet went through your shirt only, then shocked you and the trauma had you and Cap so confused that you thought you were hurt more than you were.” Tony nodded, seeming satisfied by his explanation.

“There is no way a bullet went through a tight t-shirt and stopped without even leaving a mark on her skin,” Natasha said as she strode back into the room. She knelt down in front of Steve, setting out the supplies she needed to patch him up.

“Makes more sense than coming back to life healed,” Tony rebutted. “Unless she was wearing some sort of body armor we haven’t been made aware of.”

“May I?” Bruce asked, gesturing to Celia’s chest with his hands. At her nod, he gently pressed along her chest, feeling for anything unusual. She looked down to watch him work and her eyes suddenly widened.

“Oh my God,” she murmured, looking down at her stomach.

“What?” Bruce asked, pulling his hands away in case he did something to make her uncomfortable.

“I had a scar on my stomach, but it’s gone,” she answered, sounding dazed. Steve watched her face, barely noticing the pinch and tug of Natasha neatly stitching his shoulder. He was impressed Celia had made it this far without freaking out, but it seemed like she was nearing the end of her rope. 

“Scars fade all the time,” Tony brushed off, walking back to the bar to pour himself another drink. Steve was about to yell something to tell Tony off for being so stubborn when he heard Celia whisper something.

“What?” he asked, leaning his head toward her. She turned to look him in the eyes, a silent apology in them.

“Maybe they’re right.”


	4. Chapter 4

"Maybe they're right," Celia said, staring back at Steve. He shook his head a little and gave her a confused look.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, sounding frustrated. She knew what had happened and Steve knew what happened, but she didn't think they would be able to convince the rest of them what happened. Maybe that was for the best. What would her life look like if she was caught up in the lives of the Avengers? Would she be able to keep her job? Would she have to go into hiding again? Would she be in danger? Celia was much more comfortable doing things behind the scenes and this attention on her was grating. Celia would hate for them to doubt Steve, but they would forget about this soon enough if she just went away for good.

"There was a lot going on and it all happened so quickly, maybe we just thought we saw something worse than what really happened?" Celia said, looking down at her hands. She couldn't bear to look at Steve's face, betrayal written all over it.

"See, finally we're getting somewhere," Tony said, lifting his glass in cheers before drinking it down. Celia quickly slid her shirt back on, wanting to be ready when the opportunity to leave presented itself.

"You're lying," Natasha said, tying off the last stitch in Steve's shoulder.

"No," Celia defended, folding her hands together to stop herself from fiddling with something. She still hadn't had a chance to wash them, the blood dry under her fingernails and in the cracks of her hands.

"You were nervous before, but now you're a different kind of nervous. I can tell, I'm a spy," Natasha said, putting the medical supplies away.

"It's true. She can always tell when I'm lying about liking her cooking," Clint added, ducking away from the bloody glove Natasha threw at his head.

"You know what I think is strange?" Tony said, stalking back over to the group. "I think it's strange that you guys were the only ones on that elevator, and for so long too. Middle of the morning in a busy building. How often does that happen? And this guy just happened to know exactly what car Cap would be on? Something isn't adding up."

"What are you getting at, Tony?" Bruce said, standing and turning to face him.

"Let me ask you a question, Cap," Tony continued, ignoring Bruce's question. "Did she know who you were before the guy got on with you?" Everyone turned to look at Steve and Steve looked at her. There was the slightest bit of suspicion in his eyes now and he tensed up a bit.

"Yeah," Steve answered quietly. They all looked at her now, frowns on their faces. This lie had backfired on her quickly. Before she was a possible victim in their eyes and she was quickly transitioning into an enemy.

"Care to add anything or should I just call Shield in now?" Tony asked her, tilting his head to the side. Celia did not know what to say to get herself out of this one. She thought she could just convince them she was a weak girl, not turn herself into an accomplice of attempted murder. She sighed, deciding to stick to the truth. She doubted things could get worse then they already were.

"I did know Steve was Captain America, but it wasn't because I was working with anyone to set him up. I saw his picture on that magazine two weeks ago and remembered his face."

"Oh well, that explains everything. My mistake, you're free to go," Tony quipped, rolling his eyes.

"How do I prove to you I didn't do anything wrong? Did you get the video from the elevator?" Celia asked, starting to panic a little. She couldn't get caught up in this mess. She had too many people who depended on her.

"Funny you should mention that. The cameras in the elevators had been tampered with this morning, so nothing was caught on tape. Pretty convenient if you ask me," Tony said.

"Did he threaten you? Maybe hold something against you to force you to help him?" Bruce asked in a gentle voice. Great, hitting her with the old good cop/bad cop routine. This was softball though compared to what she had to expect from an interrogation from Shield agents. Nerf ball even. She chuckled a little, imagining the Avengers in full battle gear hurling foam balls at her. Everyone stared at her like she had grown a second head, not expecting her to be laughing in the middle of this tense conversation. The sight made her laugh even more, standing up from the couch and pacing behind it, giving herself a little buffer from the group.

"So should I call into work and tell them I won't be in for a while because I'm pretty much a terrorist now?" Celia snickered.

"This isn't funny!" Tony snapped. "Just tell us the truth."

"We did tell you the truth but you didn't believe us!" Celia shouted back, losing her last bit of calm. "We told you exactly what happened earlier, but you couldn't hear it, couldn't accept it. And I thought maybe that was a good thing, because I really didn't feel like being studied and dissected in a lab. So I lied and said maybe we were wrong about it, thinking you could brush it off so I could go back to my life. But now I'm a co-conspirator." The team was silent, surprised at her outburst. Steve looked even more tired, like he was ready for all of this to be over. She felt the same, sinking down to sit cross legged on the floor, putting her head in her hands. "Can you guys let me make a couple calls before you decide what to do with me? I need to set a few things up for some people if I'm not gonna be around. I'm not gonna fight, but I swear to you, I had nothing to do with what happened in that elevator today." She sat there for a few minutes with her eyes closed, all the fight having left her. If they weren't going to believe their Captain, why the hell would they believe her?

"I believe her," Steve said quietly, standing from the couch and walking over to stand beside her. "I was there with her in that elevator and I saw what happened. I'm asking you to trust me, as your teammate, that I know what I'm talking about."

"Stranger things have happened," Clint agreed, showing his loyalty to Steve. "I don't know if you guys remember how we fought aliens not too long ago?"

"No one is going to dissect you in a lab," Bruce assured, perching onto the arm of the couch. "Believe me, that was one of my biggest fears for a while but I know no one in this room would turn you over to someone who would do that."

"Tony is right to be suspicious though guys," Natasha added. "We would be remiss to not explore every possibility. Just for peace of mind."

"Do you have any objections to that?" Bruce asked her gently.

"I have no connection to that man and would be thrilled if you could find proof of that," Celia answered sincerely. Steve reached down with his good hand, pulling her back up to her feet.

"Let me show you to a bathroom, so you can get cleaned up a little," Steve offered, pulling her toward the hallway. "We'll be back," he called over his shoulder, not waiting to hear if the team had anything to say. He took her through an empty bedroom and into the fanciest, most spacious bathroom she'd ever seen in her life. In other circumstances she'd be drooling over the deep, jetted bathtub, but now, it was just another room she was trapped in. He closed the door behind him, locking the two of them in the room together.

"Shit, I'm so sorry Steve," she groaned, sitting on the closed toilet seat. "I didn't know what to say and I thought it would be better for everyone if they just thought we were confused." Steve stooped down in front of her and put a hand on her knee. She stared into his eyes and was relieved to not see any anger toward her, just calm understanding.

"I'm not mad, I get why you said what you did. Tony can be pretty stubborn and his natural charisma can get people over to his side pretty quickly. But I don't believe you had anything to do with what happened today. I saw your face when it all went down and I'm pretty sure you couldn't have faked what we went through," Steve stated with confidence.

"What happens now?" she asked quietly, having no idea where to go from here. Something happened to her today and she didn't know what that meant for her future. Was she changed forever? What kind of tests are run after someone comes back from the dead?

"Honestly? I have no idea," Steve sighed, standing and walking over to the sink. He started washing his hands, avoiding looking at himself in the mirror. She couldn't blame him. He looked like he had stepped out of a horror movie. Both of their blood smeared on him from his neck, to down his side and arms. Celia looked down at herself, seeing the smears on her own shirt and skin. She put her hands in her lap, taking in the rusty color that made them look old and worn. They were trembling a little, the small moment of peace they had giving the days events a chance to settle in her mind. She felt her breath picking up, feeling claustrophobic in this massive bathroom suddenly and her eyes blurred. All she could see were her red hands through the thin veil of tears. She could faintly hear Steve calling her name, but she couldn't answer, couldn't turn her head to acknowledge him.

"Celia!" Steve yelled, kneeling in front of her and shaking her shoulders. She blinked a few times, feeling tears rolling down her cheeks.

"How am I alive?" she cried, not able to shove down her emotions anymore. "I was dead, I know it and I felt it. What do I do? Do I just pretend like it didn't happen?" Celia sobbed, feeling everything hit her at once. She just wanted someone to hold her and tell her everything would be alright, but she didn't have anyone to fill that role for her. She didn't have anyone she could depend on to take care of her and she hadn't for years, maybe ever. She was the one people looked to for help and in normal circumstances she loved that. There was nothing more fulfilling than helping another person in their time of need and she dedicated her entire life to doing that. But sometimes she wished that she didn't have to be so strong. That someone could take charge and solve her problems. Steve awkwardly started to pat her back, obviously not sure what he should do with a strange, hysterical woman. Celia took a chance, wrapping her arms around his middle and tucking her face into his chest, seeking out the comfort she desperately craved.


	5. Chapter 5

The hug caught him off guard, rocking him back on his heels a bit with the force of it. Just a minute ago Celia had seemed fine, sitting quietly as he washed his hands. But then he heard her breathing start to pick up and saw fine tremors start to shake her body. He called out to her, trying to ground her in the present instead of falling back into a memory, but she didn’t seem to hear him. He finally got her attention when he yelled her name, kneeling in front of her. Steve felt terrible, Celia was crying in earnest now. He never knew how to comfort people who were crying, most people in his day hiding their emotions. He actively avoided thinking about how Peggy must have looked during their last conversation, as he put the plane into the water. Steve gently patted Celia’s back, needing to do something to show her support. She slammed into him, wrapping her arms around his body and burrowing into his chest. He could feel her tears soaking into his filthy shirt, both of their blood staining it beyond repair. Steve cautiously wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the ache in his injured shoulder. He pulled her onto the floor with him, gently rocking her while she rode the waves of her emotions.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” he soothed, running his hand through her hair. “We’ll figure this out.” They stayed that way for a few minutes, Celia’s hiccupping sobs quieting down until they were just sniffles. He rubbed her back, feeling more comfortable with the closeness instead of awkward. He didn’t really touch anyone now, except for during battle. He missed the easy touches and pats and hugs he shared with Bucky during his youth, snuggling with his mom when he was a boy. Steve let himself soak up a little of the comfort too.

“I’m sorry,” Celia whispered into his neck, pulling away slightly. “I guess it just all caught up with me.”

“No need to apologize,” Steve waved off, wiping at her face to clean the tears off her cheeks. “I’ve heard it’s a good idea to not keep things bottled inside.”

“Have you cried?” Celia asked, looking deep into his eyes. “Since they found you?” Steve frowned a little, not enjoying talking about his own emotions, no matter what he said about it being healthy.

“Not yet,” he admitted, tucking a stray hair from Celia’s bun behind her ear. Steve definitely wasn’t ready to process all the emotions he had from the crash, even with Shield’s standing offer of intense therapy. He didn’t feel strong enough to deal with his past when he was still trying to just survive the present. 

“If you ever needed someone to talk to, you could talk to me,” Celia offered sincerely. “I know we don’t know each other, but sometimes that makes it easier.” She unfolded herself out of his lap, reaching a hand down to pull him up to his feet. Celia gave his hand a quick squeeze before she let go, walking over to the sink to start washing up.

“Let me go grab us a change of clothes,” he said, walking toward the door. “Tony usually has a stash in the bedrooms for guests and emergencies.” Celia nodded as he left the room, heading to the nearest dresser. He grabbed a few options for her, happy to find a good selection of women’s clothes that seemed close enough to her size. The men’s options were more limited, the serum having made his shoulders too big to fit the mediums he was finding in the drawers. He groaned when he opened the bottom drawer, seeing only Iron Man themed shirts. Tony had become obsessed with collecting Iron Man branded things when people started making it, having to buy at least one of everything he found and stashing it around the tower. Steve even had an Iron Man bobblehead on his nightstand show up one day, which quickly found its way into the corner of his closet. Of course the only shirt in this room that would fit him is one that said “Iron man is my idol” in bright red and gold lettering. He sighed, resigned to his fate and grabbed it along with the other clothes for Celia. Steve walked back to the bathroom, turning away quickly when he saw Celia standing shirtless at the sink, washing her arms.

“Sorry!” he squeaked out, embarrassed by his startled voice and walking in on her undressed. He heard her chuckle behind him, his cheeks heating up.

“It’s fine Steve, I promise. Remember the sports bra?” she asked, still washing herself at the sink. He reluctantly turned back around, keeping his eyes averted. 

“I still should have knocked, that was rude of me,” he said, setting the clothes for her on the toilet lid. “Let me know if those fit. I can grab more if they don’t.” He turned around again, painfully starting the process of changing his own shirt. Taking his ruined shirt off was easy enough, Natasha having cut one sleeve open to gain access to his shoulder wound. Getting the Iron Man shirt on would be tricky though, with its tight cut and narrow openings. He growled a little as he looked at the neck opening, the material having barely any stretch to it.

“Wait,” Celia called from behind him, turning the water in the sink back on. “You still have blood on you.” Steve turned to face her again, watching her wet a washcloth for him to wipe off with. She handed it to him and he wiped down his chest where his old shirt had hidden the blood left on his skin. He used the mirror to look at his back, a few trails of blood running from his shoulder down past his waist. Steve hissed as he tried to twist to wipe off the blood, the movement pulling at his stitches.

“Let me,” Celia said, taking the cloth from his hand and wetting it again in the sink. She gently rubbed the towel down his back, careful of the area around his wound. He shivered a little at the feel of the cool air in the room hitting the warm water on his back. It definitely wasn’t due to the fact he had a beautiful woman, who still hadn’t put a shirt on, practically giving him a sponge bath. A few hours ago he had never met this woman and now he was getting more intimate with her than he had with anyone since he came out of the ice. “All done,” she said quietly, stepping away to put the towel back in the sink. He resumed his fight with the shirt, slowly threading his injured arm into the sleeve. Celia wordlessly appeared in front of him, pulling at the neck of the shirt to give his head room to slide in. She laughed when she noticed the design on the shirt, making him chuckle a little too.

“How do I look?” he asked after he got the shirt fully on, giving her a little twirl to show off the picture of Iron Man’s mask covering the back. Celia was doubled over now, holding her stomach and laughing until she ran out of breath. Steve couldn’t help but join in, giving the heartiest laugh he could remember in a long time, since before Bucky and the train. 

“Very nice,” she laughed, walking back over to the pile of clothes and quickly putting on the black tank top that was on top. 

“We should probably get back,” he said regretfully, feeling guilty when Celia immediately sobered. “I’m sure Tony has had a chance to cool off and will be willing to listen more. He really is a good guy under all that posturing.”

“Right. And I have nothing to hide,” she said, stooping down to pick up her bag. She gave him a short nod and they made their way back to the room where they left the team. Tony and Bruce were gone when they got there, Clint and Natasha sitting at the bar whispering to each other in what sounded like Russian. They turned when they heard them approaching, Clint immediately laughing and pointing when he saw the Iron Man shirt.

“Oh my God! What the hell!” Clint gasped out between laughs, leaning back on his stool. Natasha just grinned, shaking her head at Clint’s antics.

“It was the only one that fit!” Steve defended, crossing his arms over his chest to block their view of most of the shirt. “Where’s the rest of the team?”

“They went downstairs to do some sciency stuff. They should be back soon,” Clint said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“Sciency stuff? Really Barton?” Tony asked as he glided back into the room, Bruce right behind him. Tony walked to the center of the room, getting ready to address the group. “So kiddos, I have good news and bad news. Which would you like first?”

“Good news! No, bad news. Wait, how bad is the bad and how good is the good? That will affect my answer,” Clint said, receiving an elbow to the gut from Natasha for his trouble.

“Right. Well the good news is, I’m almost all the way convinced that Celia wasn’t involved in a plot to take out our good captain,” Tony started, turning to address Celia. She looked relieved to not have the suspicions of Tony pointed at her.

“What changed your mind?” Steve asked, wanting to know what Tony found out.

“Although the cameras in the elevator weren’t working, the others in the building were. Jarvis was able to backtrack all of your movements leading up to entering the elevator. So, the fact that none of you had any contact prior to the elevator and the fact that Celia got on the elevator before you, which you failed to mention, makes it most likely that it was coincidence that she was in the car with you. We’re still going to do a more thorough background on our shooter, but until then, we’ll assume she is just an unlucky bystander,” Tony said, giving Celia a small nod. “And that brings us to our bad news. I had the bright idea-”

“Ahem!” Natasha interrupted, glaring at Tony.

“Natasha had the bright idea,” Tony resumed, glaring back at Nat, “to test Celia’s shirt for her blood. If you guys were right about her being shot, it should mostly be her blood on the shirt. We already know what Cap’s blood looks like, so we compared it to the blood on the shirt. Cap’s blood type is O, the blood on the shirt is type B. Congratulations Celia, you were shot in the chest.” The rest of the team was silent, finally having proof of what Steve and Celia had told them all along. He felt glad that there were no doubts anymore, but was scared to not know what this meant for Celia.

“So then what the hell happened to the wound?” Clint asked, confused.

“I have a theory, but it’s gonna sound crazy,” Bruce said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Crazier than a disappearing bullet wound?” Clint huffed out.

“We know that the bullet went through Steve and entered Celia’s chest, piercing her heart. But this wasn’t a normal bullet, it was an electrified bullet. So, in theory, when the bullet pierced her heart, it should’ve killed her, but the shock could have reestablished a normal heart rhythm,” Bruce explained.

“Even if the jolt restarted her heart, she should still have a bullet wound,” Natasha said.

“Yes, but the bullet going through Steve’s body means some of his enhanced blood made it into Celia’s blood stream, directly into her heart. What if the serum healed her?” Bruce said, pointing toward Celia’s heart.

“We tried in the 40s to see if me donating my blood to someone would heal them and it didn’t work,” Steve argued.

“But did you shock them too?” Bruce asked. At the shaking of Steve’s head, he continued. “What if these exact variables came together and healed the gunshot wound? The blood and the electricity of the bullet, straight into her heart kickstarted the ability to rapidly heal. What else could it possibly be?” The team stared at Celia, shock on all of their faces. Celia sank down into the nearest couch, looking ready to pass out. Steve moved over to sit down next to her, putting his hand on her shoulder in support.

“So what do we do now?”


	6. Chapter 6

Celia felt like she couldn’t breathe. The roller coaster of emotions, from her relief to the team believing she was innocent, to the possibility that Steve’s blood has somehow changed her, made her lightheaded and shaky. There was super soldier serum in her blood. She hadn’t even thought about that after things died down, mostly focusing on the fact she was alive at all. Would it flush itself out, or would it be with her forever? If it did go away after a while, would the healing it did be reversed?

“Damn, I forgot the most important thing!” Tony exclaimed, slapping himself on the forehead. Celia braced herself for what else Tony had to say, not knowing if she could take much more. “Cap, if you wanted an Iron Man shirt, you didn’t have to sneak one, you could’ve just asked.” He clasped his hands in front of his body, oozing fake sincerity. Celia burst out a startled laugh, appreciating the bit of levity in this crazy stressful situation. The rest of the team joined in on the laughter, even Steve not able to hold back a few chuckles.

“I never knew I needed one before now, Stark,” Steve grumbled out with a rueful smile. Celia caught her breath, forcing herself to calm down. There wasn’t anything she could do about her situation right now, so letting herself fall into a panic spiral wouldn’t help anything.

“Celia, would you mind coming down to the lab with me so I can run a few tests? Nothing crazy, but I’d like to take a few blood samples, check your vitals, stuff like that?” Bruce asked calmly, probably trying to avoid invoking her fear of dissection she mentioned earlier.

“Um, yeah, I can do that,” she said nervously. She wanted answers, but she was afraid of what they would be. “Do you mind if I make a few phone calls first? I no-showed a few of my patients and I need to see if I still have a job.”

“Oh my gosh,” Steve breathed out with a grimace. “I completely forgot you were on your way to work when this happened.”

“It’s okay,” she said, giving his leg a quick squeeze. “There was a lot going on. I just don’t know what to tell my boss.” She looked toward the rest of them for answers. It wasn’t like she could say she got shot with Captain America and came back to life. 

“I’m sure word has gotten out about a shooting in the building, even if Shield was able to cover up the details about who was involved. Why don’t you give me your info, your full name, employer, and I’ll have Jarvis call to tell them you were a witness to the incident and had to give statements. He’ll make it sound all official like so they won’t ask too many questions,” Tony offered nonchalantly, picking at his nails.

“Okay, that sounds fine, but can I ask a question?” Celia asked timidly, grabbing a business card and pen from her bag.

“I’m all ears,” Tony answered, tilting his head in her direction.

“Who’s Jarvis?”

“That would be me, ma’am,” a voice said from seemingly everywhere and nowhere, making her jump and look around. Steve’s hand on her knee made her relax a little, but the mysterious voice was still a bit disturbing.

“Jarvis is my computer, to put it simply,” Tony explained, waving vaguely around him. 

“And your computer makes phone calls?” she asked, writing on the back of her business card.

“Among other things,” Tony said, walking over to take the card from her.

“I put my supervisor’s name and direct number on the back. Did you need anything else?” Celia asked, nervous about a computer calling her boss, no matter how advanced it was. Her boss liked to ask questions and get details and she wasn’t sure how good a computer would be at making conversation. 

“That ought to do it,” Tony answered, twirling the card in his fingers. “You guys should get going down to the lab. Sooner you get started, sooner we all have answers, right?” Tony patted Bruce on the back, nudging him toward the elevators. Celia stood slowly, glancing back at Steve. This would be the first time she was alone with one of the other Avengers, without Steve. Bruce seemed nice, but she was scared that the drive to find out answers would push him to go further than she was comfortable with. Steve gave her a small nod, urging her on. She smiled back at him, squaring her shoulders and walking to meet Bruce by the elevators.

“Wanna take the stairs?” Bruce suggested, giving her a knowing smile.

“God yes!” Celia burst out with a relieved sigh. She would definitely be taking the stairs from now on, whenever it was feasible. Bruce chuckled, motioning for her to follow him to a different door, leading her to the lab where she might finally get a few answers about what her life was gonna look like from now on.

*

Steve sank back into the couch cushions, relieved now that the team seemed to be a little less wary of Celia. If he was being honest, the thought that she might not have been as innocent as she claimed hadn’t crossed his mind at all until Tony had suggested it. Had he been distracted by the fact she was a woman? A beautiful one at that, that just so happened to have brown hair almost the exact shade as Peggy’s? He knew women were just as deadly as men, so he didn’t discount her based on that. Was he slipping up at being a good leader? There was so much more nuance these days with his role. During the war, the bad guys were clear and it was about going in, getting the job done, and getting out. Now the bad guys looked like everyone else, able to sneak insidiously in the open. Stuff like this could make him discount his gut, which had never led him astray before.  
He watched Celia leave with Bruce, nervous about what the pair would find out in the lab. Steve wasn’t sure what the best outcome would be. Would it be better for this to be a one time thing, the serum wearing off and leaving her a normal person? Or would it be better for the serum to turn her into a super soldier, healing fast and developing all the other advantages he got? Or maybe something in between? He knew he never wanted to live without what the serum gave him, but he had signed up for it, consented to his life being changed forever. Celia hadn’t, only being in this situation due to pure dumb luck.

“Jarvis, make the call to Dr. Angela Dawkins,” Tony said, reading the name on the back of the card. “Give her the spiel about Celia being a witness, yadda yadda, keep it vague and keep Cap out of it. Tell her Celia might need a few days, to keep herself available for follow ups.”

“Right away sir,” Jarvis answered.

“So Cap,” Tony said, flopping onto the cushion next to him, “you guys were in the bathroom, alone, for quite a long time. What happened?” Tony waggled his eyebrows, flashing a conspiratorial smile.

“We got cleaned up and came back out, there wasn’t time for anything else. Besides, you weren’t even up here when we came out, how do you know how long we were gone?” Steve asked, scoffing.

“Jarvis told me,” Tony answered, grinning. Steve looked up, giving the computer his most offended glare. He still wasn’t used to the computer that was watching his every move, sometimes feeling very violated by it. He knew he couldn’t blame Jarvis, it was only doing what it was programmed to do by Tony, but it was so lifelike it was easy to forget that Jarvis wasn’t its own sentient entity. 

“How much time do you think you need Cap?” Clint asked, balancing on two stool legs.

“Real men take their time,” Natasha purred, snaking a hand out to grab the stool out from under him. Clint’s fast reflexes were the only thing keeping him from falling on his butt.

“You guys are terrible! Celia and I didn’t do anything in that bathroom,” Steve choked out, offended by their implication.

“I just wanted to know if you found out any information from her,” Tony said innocently, with comically wide eyes. “What did you think I was talking about?” Clint snickered from his spot by Natasha, leaning casually against the bar counter like it was by choice.

“You may think I’m out of touch, but I know what those eyebrows mean,” Steve said, pointing at Tony’s face.

“Sure gramps, but seriously though, you get any info from her? Anything useful to supplement the background check?” Tony asked, rolling his eyes.

“Background check?” Steve asked, with a glare. “You’re running a background check on her? I thought you didn’t think she was a suspect anymore!”

“I said I was almost all the way convinced,” Tony pointed out. “We have no idea how all of this is gonna shake out and we need to know who we are dealing with. Even if she isn’t involved in this plot to kidnap you, she could still be a psychopath. We need to cover all our bases here.” Steve sighed, conceding to Tony’s point. He hated feeling sneaky, infringing on Celia’s privacy without her consent, but they really didn’t need any surprises to pop up and cause problems. Hopefully she was the normal woman she seemed like to Steve. 

“Okay,” Steve agreed, although he knew Tony would still do what he wanted, even if he kicked up a fuss. “Just don’t get too personal if you can help it. You wouldn’t want someone poking around in your past.”

“Sure, sure,” Tony said, brushing him off, standing and walking over to a desk in the corner. He grabbed a StarkPad from a drawer, pulling up the info Jarvis had found so far. “Give me a rundown Jarvis, what am I looking at?”

“I seem to have hit a bit of a hiccup sir. According to my search so far, Ms. Celia Burke didn’t exist three years ago,” Jarvis answered in his usual cool tone.

“And the plot thickens.”


	7. Chapter 7

“If you could just sit here for a second, I’ll get the stuff together to draw some blood,” Bruce said, pointing her to a chair in the lab. The room was huge, filled with gleaming metal counters and high tech gadgets she didn’t even pretend to recognize. Bruce moved around the room with practiced ease, collecting syringes and test tubes from neatly organized cabinets. Celia glanced at something bubbling in a beaker to her left, letting off a puff of smoke every few seconds.

“Don’t worry about that,” Bruce laughed, rolling to a stop on a stool in front of her. “It shouldn’t blow up anytime soon.” She gave him a curious look, shrugging it off. Why not get caught up in an explosion too? That would fit in with this day.

“I want to take your blood pressure first, just to make sure it’s safe to take blood after you lost a bit earlier,” Bruce said, attaching a cuff to her bicep. He listened to her heartbeat through a stethoscope, watching the numbers with rapt concentration. This must be much more exciting for him than it was for her, trying to keep the dread she felt from skewing the results. He nodded, taking the cuff off and writing the results down on a sheet of paper.

“Did I pass?” Celia asked hopefully. Bruce nodded again, making more notes on the paper before turning back to her.

“I’m going to take 10 vials of blood, if that’s okay? I want to do a few different tests and don’t want to have to bother you to get more if I can help it,” Bruce asked, tying some rubber tubing around her arm and flicking her elbow.

“That’s fine,” she answered, watching him work. She wanted to see everything that was being done, not wanting to be in the dark about anything if she could help it. Bruce slid the needle in smoothly, only making her feel a slight pinch.

“You have good veins,” Bruce observed, attaching the first tube which filled steadily with blood. “Have you donated blood before?”

“Yeah, my clinic does a blood drive a few times a year and I usually participate,” she said, watching Bruce switch vials as they filled. “Anything for the free cookie,” she joked.

“I don’t actually have any cookies in here for you, but I’m sure we can find you something upstairs when we’re done,” Bruce laughed, continuing his collecting. “So, you mentioned patients earlier, what do you do for work?”

“I’m a physical therapist,” Celia answered, putting a cotton ball on her elbow after Bruce slid the needle back out. She was scared to take it off, not knowing if she’d rather see it healed when she pulled it away, or still there like a normal person. Bruce noticed her hesitation, patting her arm and giving her a supporting nod. She took a deep breath and ripped it away, not sure if she was relieved or disappointed by the small spot of red that welled up from the puncture wound. “That was anticlimactic.”

“Doesn’t mean anything yet. Even Steve takes longer than that to heal,” Bruce brushed off. “How long after you were shot did you heal?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” Celia said, dabbing at the blood as it reappeared on her inner elbow. “Everything is a little fuzzy. It felt like forever and like it was over in a flash, you know?”

“Oh, I know all about losing time,” Bruce laughed, writing down more notes. “I’ll ask Steve for a more concrete timeline.”

“How long will it be before he’s healed?” she asked, accepting Bruce’s offered band aid.

“He should be back to normal in about a week, give or take a few days. The tissue doesn’t take too long to heal under normal circumstances, but he’ll still be a bit sore. Nothing at all like what happened to you,” Bruce answered, turning back to face her. “What do you remember from after the shot? I know you don’t remember how fast it happened, but can you remember how it felt? Anything specific to help us figure this out?”

“The last thing I felt after I was shot was Steve pressing on the wound and then the electric shock. I must’ve passed out, but when I came to, it was like I could feel parts of my chest moving. And then it just stopped. No more pain, no more wound,” Celia recounted in a shaky voice. Bruce wrote a few more things down, giving her time to calm herself. Talking about what happened was harder than she thought it would be, but she felt better now that it was out there. Bruce went through the rest of a standard physical exam, checking all of her vitals and asking about her health history.

“I think that’s all the testing I can do right now,” he said, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. 

“What is it?” Celia asked. She could tell he was holding something back and she wanted to know what it was. She figured she had the right, since this was her body they were documenting. Bruce sighed, glancing at her sheepishly.

“There is one other test I’d like to do, more of an experiment really. But I don’t want you to feel pressured into saying yes,” Bruce said, tapping his leg nervously. Him being nervous was making her nervous and she could feel her palms getting sweaty. 

“Just say it, cause you’re freaking me out,” Celia whispered, wanting to get whatever it was out in the open. 

“I really want to monitor your healing ability, but the needle mark isn’t a really good test field.”

“So, you want to shoot me again?” Celia asked, not liking what she was hearing.

“No! Of course not!” Bruce burst out, looking horrified. “I was thinking more along the lines of a small cut, somewhere like your upper arm. A place easier to watch and that isn’t interacted with as much.” Celia blew out a relieved breath, laughing a little at her overreaction. Bruce didn’t seem like the type to just shoot someone for the sake of science, but Celia was so out of sorts after this morning that she couldn’t help but think in worst case scenarios.

“Just a little casual dissection,” Celia joked, trying to lighten the mood. “If it’ll help us get answers, I think I can handle a little scratch.” Bruce chuckled, looking glad that she hadn’t freaked out at his request. Maybe she should be, it wasn’t quite normal to agree to have someone cut you for science, but she left normal back in that elevator. Bruce sheepishly snagged a wrapped scalpel, tearing it from its protective plastic packaging.

“Are you sure about this?” Bruce asked, spinning the knife between his fingers. Celia nodded, bracing herself. Bruce gently gripped her upper left arm, looking into her eyes. “Breathe out slowly,” he instructed, running the blade an inch across her skin as she blew out her breath. He quickly replaced the blade with a piece of gauze, pressing down on the bleeding wound.

“Well, compared to this morning, that was practically a tickle,” Celia laughed, happy it was over. Bruce grinned at her, checking to see if the bleeding had slowed yet. He replaced the gauze with a fresh piece, wiping up a little trickle of blood.

“Is this a typical amount of bleeding for you?” he asked, adding a little more pressure.

“I think so. Why, does it look wrong?” Celia asked, looking quickly between her arm and Bruce’s face, wanting to see his eyes when he answered, in case he would try to hide something from her.

“No, no, this still looks normal,” Bruce reassured. “Some people just naturally have different levels of bleeding, so I just wanted to make a note if it seemed different for you.” He pulled the bandage away again, nodding to see the bleeding had slowed almost to a stop.

“What now?” she asked, eyeing the cut to try to see if anything was happening yet.

“Now we wait,” Bruce sighed, taking off his gloves and throwing them into the trash. “I don’t want to cover it, so we can see if anything changes. Try not to touch it to displace the scab forming. Are you able to hang around for the rest of the day? I don’t want to put any undue burden on you, but obviously it will be easier for me to monitor the healing if you stay.” Celia bit her lip, not knowing how to answer. She knew what Bruce was saying made sense, but she thought about all of the things she needed to do at home. And the thought of being studied for who knows how long gave her the creeps. Celia was about to answer when the lab doors slid open and the rest of the Avengers walked in.

“I hope we’re not interrupting,” Tony said sharply, crossing his arms and standing in front of the group that just walked in.

“What’s going on?” Bruce asked, spinning on his stool to face the new arrivals. Natasha and Clint were unreadable, standing together with blank looks on their faces. Tony looked smug, like he had just been told everything he ever thought was right. Steve looked worried and a little upset, darting glances between her and the back of Tony’s head.

“Is everything okay?” Celia asked in a whisper, knowing what she was about to hear was not going to be good.

“Is there anything you’d like to share with the class?” Tony asked her, gesturing around the room to everyone. So many things ran through her head, but she kept her face neutral. She had learned the hard way not to volunteer information that could hurt her. People were tricky.

“What are you talking about?” Celia asked calmly, putting the right amount of confused into her voice. She had to play this cool. This wasn’t the first time she had been interrogated by an angry man, so she wasn’t going to make any rookie mistakes. And the fact that she really was confused by this turn of events made her reaction more legitimate.

“I found out the strangest thing and I thought, well that’s not normal,” Tony started theatrically, really enjoying the performance he was putting on. “It turns out the woman that was in the elevator with the good captain this morning didn’t exist three years ago. Care to explain?” Celia’s breath caught in her throat. She looked down to her hands in her lap, feeling all the eyes in the room on her. Bruce rolled his stool a little bit away from her, trying to be discreet, but in the quiet room, the squeaking wheels were practically deafening.   
She didn’t know how to play this. Should she admit it and try to explain herself, without giving any details? Or should she deny it and make herself look even worse in their eyes. Celia took a minute to herself, running different scenarios in her head. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Who were these people to dig around in her past? She didn’t ask to be in this situation and what right did they have to know anything about her? Sure, she understood a little digging to make sure she wasn’t involved in the plot against Steve today, but they didn’t need to know everything about her. And the fact that Tony would come in here and shove it in her face like this, like he had any authority over her, pushed her over the edge.

“How is that any of your business?” Celia asked, looking up to stare Tony in the eye. He looked back at her with a surprised look, both eyebrows raised and head cocked a little to the side. She could see Natasha and Clint in her periphery smirking a little, like they weren’t expecting any pushback either.

“Excuse me?” Tony asked, putting his hands on his hips, as if to scold her for her backtalk. 

“How is that any of your business?” she repeated, getting more heated.

“Don’t you think it’s a little strange, suspicious even, that the woman that just so happens to be caught up in a kidnapping plot against Captain America, has a mysterious past? A seemingly new identity that isn’t easily traced back to the original?” Tony mused, scratching his chin.

“So I had the forethought to change my identity to kidnap a person almost three years before they were discovered on ice? Wow, who needs super blood, I’m obviously psychic,” Celia said with an angry bark of laughter. She got snarky when she was mad. She knew it wasn’t helpful right now, but she had no self control after this day.

“She has a point,” Natasha pointed out. Tony rolled his eyes, glaring back at her.

“I thought you were on my side,” Tony growled out.

“So now there are sides?” Clint asked, huffing out a laugh. 

“I’m trying to look out for this team, that might I add, I didn’t want to join in the first place!” Tony ground out, whirling around to face Celia again. “I think I have the right to know who is in my tower.”

“You’re right, you do,” Celia said, standing up from her chair. “Thank you so much for your hospitality, I’ll see myself out.” She walked toward the door, her skin practically itching with the need to get away from these people and back amongst the normal people out on the street. She brushed past Tony, keeping away from him as best she could in the narrow space between counters. Celia stopped short before she got to the door, Steve standing silently in front of it. He hadn’t said anything this whole time and she had forgotten he was even there. He looked at her with sad eyes, gently holding his injured arm against his body. She felt her indignation crumble a little, remembering their emotional moment in the bathroom together earlier. Celia desperately wanted to believe Steve wasn’t siding with Tony on this, but she knew they were a team and had history and she was just a stranger. She would never want to come in between that, no matter how right she knew she was in her anger.

“Excuse me Steve,” she said quietly, pleading with him with her eyes to just let her go. He sighed mournfully, stepping to the side to let her walk past.

“Wait!” Bruce called out when she made it to the door. She paused, waiting to hear what he had to say. “Our test.” She turned a little, glancing back at him.

“I’ll let you know if anything happens,” Celia said, resuming her walk out of the lab. She quickly walked over to the elevator, happy that the car was still there from the team’s recent ride down. She looked around the inside, searching for the buttons to choose her floor, but she didn’t see any.

“I’m in elevator hell,” she muttered, pressing her hands into her eyes.

“I’ll take you down to street level Ms. Burke,” the computer man, Jarvis, said.

“Shit fuck!” Celia yelled out, putting a hand over her heart, scared out of her mind by the voice. She didn’t know how anyone could live with a computer that talked to them and seemed to know everything.

“I apologize for startling you,” Jarvis said, taking her down the floors quickly. Celia pressed her lips together, stopping herself from answering back like it was a real person. She needed to get out of this building and back into the real, normal world. Celia ran out of the elevator as soon as it opened, not stopping until she made it outside the tower doors, sucking in fresh air desperately, as if she had been strangled. She ignored the curious looks of people walking nearby, and quickly made her way in the direction of her apartment. She could regroup and figure out her next moves once she got home.


	8. Chapter 8

“That went well,” Tony said, addressing the group as soon as Jarvis told them Celia was safely out of the building. Steve leaned back against the wall of the lab, closing his eyes in frustration. When Tony had read out the early findings of the background check, Steve’s interest had been piqued, but not to the level Tony’s had. Tony had been bursting with smugness, rubbing in the fact that his earlier suspiciousness was seemingly justified. He convinced the team to go down to the lab to see if they could get answers straight from the source, before he took matters into his own hands and dug deeper. Or Jarvis’ hands really. Tony had assured him that he would go easy on Celia, give her a chance to come clean. Evidently, they had different definitions of the word “easy.”

“Can you blame her?” Steve asked wearily, sagging against the wall. Natasha kicked an extra stool in his direction, it rolling to a stop right in front of his feet. He nodded gratefully, sinking down onto it slowly, feeling the exhaustion deep in his bones. During battle, this wound would barely slow him down, but in the quiet moments after, the serum working hard to heal him would suck the energy out of him. 

“People that don’t have anything to hide, hide nothing,” Tony shot back, annoyed.

“Give me a break,” Clint snorted, shaking his head at Tony. “As if we all don’t have secrets.”

“Care to share, Barton?” Tony asked.

“You first, Stark,” Clint quipped back, looking unamused. Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, angry that the crazed man from earlier could do so much damage to his team. They might not be the best of friends, but they had been steadily getting along better as time went on. Now they were sniping and taking little potshots at each other.

“I don’t like surprises. And this girl seems wrapped up in some,” Tony justified. “Do you think I let just anyone onto the private floors of my tower? No. But I did it because Cap was unwilling to go with any alternatives. So excuse me if I’m trying to watch our backs here. I know what it’s like to think you know someone and let your guard down and it to come back and bite you in the ass. Pardon me for wanting to take every precaution I can to make sure that doesn’t happen again.” The team stayed quiet, knowing Tony was talking about his father’s old business partner who betrayed him.

“I understand what you were trying to accomplish, but can’t you see why she would react the way she did?” Steve asked, trying to bring back some semblance of calm to the team. “Can we just take the night to cool off, try to look at this from a fresh perspective in the morning? It’s been a long day and I think we all could use some sleep.”

“Uh, Cap?” Clint said, grimacing. “It’s only around noon.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Steve groaned, resting his head in his hands. Bruce walked over and put a gentle hand on his good shoulder. 

“I think it would be a good idea for you to go back to your floor and get some rest. Doctor’s orders,” Bruce commanded.

“I thought you weren’t that kind of doctor,” Steve said with a sly smile.

“As if that mattered to you before,” Bruce laughed, urging him up out of the chair. 

“Keep an eye on the kids while I’m gone.” Tony scoffed from where he stood, looking offended at the idea he would need to be supervised. Steve gave everyone in the room one last nod before he made his way back to the elevator. Under normal circumstances he would take the stairs to his room, only needing to go a few floors up. But he didn’t need to push himself after the day he had. He couldn’t believe it had only been around two hours since he had been shot. It felt like forever ago now and he was so tired. Steve wasn’t really the napping type, but he had to admit it would probably be for the best in the long run, never knowing when he would have to be up and ready for action. He shuffled to his room, shucking off his shoes and pants along the way. Steve wasn’t usually so careless with his things, but he was too tired to be bothered at the moment. He slowly slid into his bed, savoring in the comfort of it. He drifted off with thoughts of his team in his head.

*

“I’m surprised you didn’t put up a fight about Celia leaving the tower before you got answers,” Bruce said, sitting back on his stool after Steve left.

“Do I seem like the type to hold someone against their will?” Tony asked, offended. Bruce snorted and started writing something on a notepad. Tony turned to Natasha and Clint, signalling for them to follow him out of the lab. They looked at each other before following, Tony leading them to the elevators.

“What are you up to?” Natasha asked as soon as the doors closed.

“Back to the penthouse Jarvis,” he dictated, leaning back against the wall of the elevator. “You guys know I’m right to be cautious. Cap’s polite, gentlemanly heart is just blinding you to what you need to see.” Tony walked off the elevators as soon as it stopped, grabbing the StarkPad he had left earlier. Clint and Natasha sat on opposite ends of the same couch, waiting to hear whatever he had to say. He typed a few things into the StarkPad, smiling when the information he was looking for was displayed on the screen.

“Why don’t I like that smile?” Clint stage whispered to Natasha.

“Can we get on with this Tony?” Natasha asked, looking bored. “I wanted to get a workout in before lunch.”

“I would like your help with something,” Tony said, turning the screen to face them, showing a small green dot moving along the streets of New York City. 

“A tracker?” Natasha scoffed. “How early 2000s.”

“I didn’t really have time for a better plan,” Tony sneered. “And I had to be discreet.”

“So what do you want us to do, follow her around all day? Hope she leads us to her secret lair?” Clint asked, laughing.

“I don’t want you to do anything yet,” Tony answered, ignoring Clint’s jokes. “I just want you on standby in case I need someone on the ground. I’m going to keep digging into records and see what that gets me. This would be like a milk run for you guys, being master spies and all.”

“What happens if you find out she’s innocent?” Natasha asked, leaning back into the couch cushions.

“I’ll apologize and send her a fruit basket or something,” Tony grumbled out. “Listen, I want to be wrong, guys. I want this girl to be the most boring, normal person who you would trust to take care of your nana, but I have to be sure. Just support me on this.”

“Fine, fine,” Clint agreed, standing from the couch and stretching. He slapped Natasha on the outside of her thigh, sidestepping her answering strike to his midsection. “Let’s go to the gym and beat me up.” Natasha smiled a feral grin, slinking after Clint who was headed toward the stairs.

“One more thing,” Tony called out, stopping their exit. “Cap and Bruce don’t need to know about all this, okay? You know how they get about being sneaky. Better to just deal with this ourselves.” Clint gave him a thumbs up, continuing his walk with quiet cluck sounds added.

“I’m not a chicken, just strategic!” Tony yelled after them, scowling at their backs. Someone had to watch over this team and if their captain was too incapacitated to do it, he would step up. He may give off the impression of aloofness, but no one was going to come in and hurt his people. Not if he could help it.


	9. Chapter 9

Celia pressed her apartment door closed behind her, leaning wearily against it. Her travel from Stark Tower to her place in Melrose, in South Bronx, was almost torture. She loathed getting on the subway to get home after her day, trapping herself in another metal box. Most days she could tune everyone else on the train out, listening to music or just thinking about her day. Today, she was paranoid, watching everyone she could with a suspicious eye, not willing to let her guard down for a second. The exhaust fumes she encountered when she made it back above ground were comforting, signalling she was back on her home turf, no matter how run down it was. Celia closed her eyes, running a hand over her face.

“You’re back early!” a voice chirped nervously from the doorway leading to the kitchen. Her temporary roommate Kathy was standing there, wringing her hands and shifting her weight. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Celia answered, pushing herself away from the door. “Just some scheduling issues. I might have a few days off, but I’m not sure yet.” Kathy bit her lip, still looking unsure about Celia’s explanation. Celia made an effort to perk herself up, wanting to ease Kathy’s worries so she would drop the subject. There was no way she was telling her about anything that happened today. Kathy was still too vulnerable and fragile and any extra stress would cause a major setback in her progress. Celia gently patted her on the shoulder as she passed, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and filling it from the tap.

“Where’d you get the shirt?” Kathy blurted out, covering her mouth after she asked the question. Celia smiled calmly and eased Kathy’s hands back down, cupping them in her own.

“What did we say about asking questions?” Celia prompted, softly rubbing Kathy’s hands to help her relax.

“I’m allowed to ask questions. I don’t need permission to speak,” Kathy recited, blowing out a quiet breath. Celia nodded encouragingly, happy to see her friend regulating her emotions. Kathy had only been staying with her for about a week now, but she was making great progress so far.

“My first client accidentally spilled a drink on me and insisted I take this extra shirt they had,” Celia explained, walking back to the sink and finishing her glass of water. “Did you have lunch already? I was thinking about making a quick sandwich, if you’d like one too?”

“No thank you, I already ate,” Kathy said, sitting down at the little kitchen table. Celia stifled a groan, wishing she could have a moment alone to feel her feelings. Her one bedroom apartment was already cramped, but it felt downright suffocating after this morning. She wished she still had a private room she could go to, not have to worry about being the stable one and be left to work through her emotions how she wanted, without an audience. Now all she had was the bathroom.

Celia grabbed the loaf of bread and container of lunch meat from the fridge, slapping two slices of meat onto the bread, not worrying about anything else. Kathy hid a quiet chuckle, eyeing her hastily made lunch. Celia shrugged, taking a big bite of the sandwich. It tasted good, but the second she swallowed, it felt like a giant rock landed in her stomach. She turned quickly to refill her water glass and hide her face from Kathy. The food was not settling in her empty stomach, the stress of the day feeling like it was churning in her gut. She took a couple small sips, hoping to quell the feelings of nausea. It helped a little, making her less worried that she would empty her insides into the sink. She turned back around, leaning against the counter to face Kathy. Maybe actively putting on her game face would distract her from the cramping in her stomach.

“How has your day been?” Celia asked, hoping to get Kathy talking to keep her mind off of other things.

“It’s been okay so far,” Kathy said timidly, twisting on the frayed edges of a towel laying on the table. “After you figured out the sink issue this morning, I was inspired to start cleaning. I even took a load of clothes down to the laundry room.”

“That’s great,” Celia said, genuinely happy to hear about this new development. Kathy hadn’t left the apartment on her own since she got there, wary of every face she saw. Celia casually wrapped up the rest of her sandwich, putting it in the fridge for later. She didn’t want to risk another bite, not wanting to deal with its reappearance. “Maybe you want to come with me to the store the next time I get groceries? No pressure though.”

“Are you feeling okay? You barely ate,” Kathy said, glancing between her and the fridge.

“I’m fine, don’t worry. My client with the juice was having an office thing and let me help myself to some of the food. I didn’t realize how full I was until I started on the sandwich,” Celia brushed off, glad that she could come up with a plausible story so quickly. She didn’t like lying to her new friend, but she would not be able to handle the truth.

“I think I’m gonna go take a quick shower. I feel like there might still be some sticky juice on my skin,” Celia said, stretching her arms above her head and gesturing toward the bathroom. Kathy nodded and Celia turned to leave, breathing a sigh of relief as soon as she was out of earshot. She just needed ten minutes to herself. Ten minutes to freak out, cry, plan, whatever she needed to do to figure out her next moves. Celia walked over to her dresser in the living room, grabbing a change of clothes and sealing herself into the bathroom. She stepped in front of the mirror, giving herself a thorough once over for the first time since this happened. Celia had had a short minute alone in the bathroom earlier, when Steve had gone to look for clothes, but she had been focused on cleaning the blood off of her body.

She looked… normal. Celia looked better than normal actually. Her skin was bright and smooth. The small bruise she had gotten along her hairline that morning while she was fixing the sink was gone. She quickly ripped off all of her clothes, checking over her body. Her most obvious scar she had on her stomach was gone, which she had noticed earlier. Every other scar she could remember: the stitches on her knee from when she was a kid, the cat scratches on her ankle, the chicken pox scar on her neck, all gone. Even the razor knick she had from shaving her legs this morning had disappeared. Her body was a blank slate, not an imperfection in sight. She numbly started the shower, absentmindedly rubbing her stomach where her scar used to be. Is this what had happened to Steve, after he got the serum injection? The history books glossed over the experiments and she hadn’t cared enough to do her own research. 

Celia climbed into the shower, sitting in the narrow tub with her back to the water. She tried some of the breathing exercises she taught Kathy, trying to center herself. Her breaths were coming out a little ragged and she covered her mouth, trying to muffle the sounds so they wouldn’t travel through the thin walls. She was okay, she kept trying to tell herself in her mind. This was probably a one time thing, the serum would work its way out of her blood like a virus. The cut was still there on her upper arm, looking typical as ever. She tried to convince herself that it would still be there the next day, and the day after that, and she could tell Bruce that their tests were a waste of time, she was a normal girl. She set a timer in her mind for five minutes. Celia had five minutes to cry, feel angry, feel sorry for herself, and everything in between. After that, she would pick herself back up and deal. This was not going to defeat her, she had been through too much in her life to let anything hold her back. She made it through her five minutes, standing herself back up and scrubbing her body, still mindful of the cut on her arm. Celia dried off, dressing in her own white tank top and lounge shorts, giving herself permission to take the rest of the day for herself. She checked her face in the mirror, making sure Kathy wouldn’t be able to tell she had cried in the shower. Steeling herself back up, she left the bathroom, ready to face the rest of her day head on.

The day passed by quickly, watching TV with Kathy and just hanging around the apartment. She didn’t do it often, always finding something to keep herself busy with. But everyone deserved a break every now and then. Kathy excused herself to bed around 9pm, leaving Celia alone in the living room. She sank down into the couch cushions, finally able to relax without putting on a show. It wasn’t that she didn’t like having Kathy around, she was just still in that really vulnerable place and her emotions could switch in a second. Celia didn’t want to cause Kathy anymore distress right now. Celia quickly spread out her bedroll, ready to go to sleep and start a new day. She laid down on her right side, not wanting to disturb the scab on her arm. It still looked normal and she was almost sure that it would stay that way. She closed her eyes and let the exhaustion of the day pull her under into sleep.

Celia was jolted from her slumber, looking around wildly at what might have caused the sudden awakening. Everything looked the same and the clock showed only a few minutes had passed. She laid her head back down, brushing it off as a mini nightmare. An intense burning in her arm made her sit up, reaching over to flip on the lamp on the table next to her. Her arm ached around her cut, hurting worse than the initial slice that put it there. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling her heart race and breaths become shallow. What was happening? The achy, burning feeling eased to a slight itch, then disappeared altogether. Celia leaned her head back on the couch, feeling her adrenaline spike. She psyched herself up, mentally preparing herself to look down at her arm. She knew what she would find, but she had to confirm it. Celia lifted her arm slowly, bringing it into her line of vision. The cut was gone. She ran a finger over the spot it used to be, feeling nothing out of the ordinary.

Celia choked on her breath, biting her lip and putting her head between her legs. She could not have a panic attack right now. She needed to calm the fuck down and think. Celia stayed that way for a few minutes, forcing herself to relax. At least she wasn’t in that unknowing limbo place anymore. She had an answer, not really one she wanted, but an answer nonetheless. She grabbed her bag from beside the door, knowing the next move she had to make. Celia dug around in her bag, searching for her cell phone. None of the Avengers had given her their phone numbers, but the tower had to have some sort of googleable number for her to try. It was only 9:30pm, there had to be someone awake still. Bruce seemed like the type that wouldn’t mind being woken up for something like this. Her elusive cell phone was not being cooperative, hiding itself amongst the chaos of her bag. She dumped out the contents on the table under the lamp, not caring about the mess at the moment. Celia sifted through her work supplies and random trash she shoved in there during her busier moments, cursing her disorganization. She shook out a pouch of athletic wrap, hearing a quiet metal clatter hit the floor. It was too quiet to be her cell phone, but she stooped down to pick up whatever it was. It was a small black square, around the size of her fingertip. She examined the square in her hand, trying to figure out where it came from. It didn’t look like it had broken off of anything, with its smooth edges. She felt tiny indents in the corner, and she held it under the light to get a closer look. Two tiny letters were imprinted into the surface.

SI

Celia’s hand began to tremble with anger, the little square bouncing on top of her palm. The nerve of that man. How dare he put some sort of tracker in her bag! It was bad enough that he had snooped into her past, but this was taking it too far. He had no right to infringe on her privacy like this. She swept her arm over the pile of stuff, knocking it back into her bag. She paced the room a little, anger killing thoughts of fear she had about her situation. Now she was just pissed. Celia stormed over to the kitchen, snatching a notepad from a drawer and writing Kathy a note, letting her know there was a work emergency and she’d be home later. Kathy would freak out if she was randomly gone in the middle of the night with no explanation and she definitely didn’t need to deal with that tonight. She stalked out of her apartment, not even bothering to change before heading toward Stark Tower. She would not let this stand.


	10. Chapter 10

Steve woke up around 8pm, feeling refreshed after his lengthy nap. He couldn’t believe he slept almost eight hours straight, usually only managing six most nights. His shoulder wound was looking good, the stitches helping the serum along in closing up the wound. His arm still twinged whenever he moved it, but the pain was manageable. He took a quick shower, scrubbing off the last remnants of the day. His mind drifted back to Celia, feeling terrible about how she left and regretting the fact that he didn’t do more. He should’ve reined Tony in before he went too far and calmed Celia before she got too upset. Steve felt like he had made a bit of a connection with her, when she let herself be vulnerable around him. He sighed, accepting that he couldn’t do anything about it now, but making a promise to himself to try to unruffle some feathers the next time he saw her.

He went up to the common floor, looking to see if anyone else was still there. Natasha was draped over a love seat, reading a book. She twirled a foot at him, acknowledging his presence. He gave her a casual salute, walking over to the kitchen to find something to eat. He was starving, not having eaten since breakfast that morning, before the whole elevator debacle. Steve smiled when he found a big pot of leftover spaghetti in the fridge.

“Is this spaghetti up for grabs?” he called out to Natasha, pulling the food out hopefully.

“Of course we saved you dinner Cap,” Natasha answered, sliding into the room and sitting at the counter. “We couldn’t let our leader go hungry after his nap.” Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she teased him. He rolled his eyes, plating up a heaping pile of noodles and shoving them into the microwave. Steve still marveled at the invention, remembering the many times he ate food cold, not wanting to bother to wait for his rinky-dink oven to warm up enough to heat his food.

“Where is everyone?” Steve asked, digging into his food as soon as it was hot.

“Bruce is still in his lab, obsessing over his blood samples. Clint’s in his room, icing up after our workout. I’m not sure where Tony is, probably inventing something or blowing up his lab,” Natasha answered, smirking when she talked about Clint. Steve chuckled, knowing how intense she could get when it came to training. He took a few more bites, contemplating how to ask his next question. Natasha must have noticed the wheels turning in his head because she motioned with her hand for him to come out with whatever he was thinking. He sighed, setting down his fork and leaning against the counter across from her.

“What do you really think of Celia?” he asked, tapping his fingers lightly on the countertop. “Do you think she’s hiding something dangerous? Do you think Tony is right not to trust her?” Natasha didn’t answer right away, considering her words carefully. Steve appreciated that about her. She was always cool, never letting her emotions get in the way of telling you what she felt. He preferred it when people were direct.

“I think Tony is right to be cautious. He and Bruce are pretty new to the whole working with a team thing, unlike the rest of us. I think it’s smart to look into everything we can, have as much information possible,” she said, sagely. “But I also don’t blame her for her reaction. I’d be mad too if someone was poking around in my personal business.”

“So, what do you think I should do?” Steve asked, desperate for advice. Leading a team into battle was easy compared to dealing with emotions and relationships.

“If I were you, I’d let things play out a little. Give everyone time to settle, give Bruce a little time to work his magic. This could all end up being for nothing after all. Celia could still be normal,” Natasha said, shrugging her shoulders. Steve nodded, digging back into his food and contemplating Natasha’s words. This could all be pointless, if the healing turned out to be a one time thing. They could all put this behind them and never cross paths again. But for some reason, Steve didn’t like the idea of that. He couldn’t get the image of Celia’s pale, blue eyes out of his head, sitting lifeless on the floor of that elevator. Steve had seen a lot of people die during his time in the war, but it usually wasn’t in such an intimate setting.

“Have we found out any more about the shooter?” Steve asked, turning to wash his empty plate off in the sink.

“Nothing yet, but Fury was pretty pissed about it, so he put his top people on it,” Natasha answered, twirling an orange from the fruit bowl on the counter.

“Does he know about Celia?” Steve asked, whirling around quickly to face her.

“He knows there was a woman in there with you, but he doesn’t know about the bullet wound. Yet,” she said, tossing the orange up and catching it behind her back.

“Good, good. I should probably be the one to tell him, after we find out for sure,” Steve said, rubbing at a spot on the counter. “Maybe I should go check in with Bruce. See if there are any new developments?”

“Don’t bother, Capsicle,” Tony said as he breezed into the room, tapping away on his tablet. “I just came from there and all I got were annoyed grunts and hand waving.” Steve eyed the StarkPad suspiciously, wanting to know if Tony found out anything new, but also wanting to respect Celia’s privacy. He kept his questions to himself, figuring Tony would tell him if he found anything important.

“I guess I’ll go back to my floor then,” Steve said, not looking forward to the long hours that laid before him. He wasn’t tired after his long nap and he couldn’t train in the gym with his injury. It was nights like this that he dreaded. Nights he was alone with his thoughts.

“Nah, come on Cap. Stay up here and watch some movies with us. I convinced Clint to stop licking his wounds from this she-devil here and come up and have an impromptu movie night. He should be up here any minute,” Tony suggested, pulling snacks out of the kitchen cabinets. “I’ll even let you pick the first movie, as long as it isn’t The Wizard of Oz again. Three times this month is enough.”

“It’s a really good movie,” Steve defended, looking to Natasha for backup.

“Last time you made us watch it, I dreamt I was shooting flying monkeys out of the sky for days,” Clint quipped, shooting Steve an apologetic look at his downtrodden face. “Maybe we can find something similar?”

“Don’t let yourself fall victim to those puppy dog eyes,” Tony warned, smirking at Steve’s glare. “We should watch an action movie.”

“As if we don’t see enough action around here already,” Natasha scoffed, grabbing herself a bottled water from the fridge.

“There’s action in The Wizard of Oz!” Steve countered, hurt by all the disparaging of his favorite movie from back in his time.

“Jarvis, destroy every copy of The Wizard of Oz there is,” Tony commanded, grinning evilly at Steve.

“No!” Steve yelled, feeling devastated at the idea of losing one more thing from his past. Natasha slapped the back of Tony’s head, giving him a chastising look.

“Jarvis can’t do that Cap,” Clint assured him, clapping him fondly on the back. “Tony’s just being an asshole.”

“A little teasing never hurt anyone,” Tony grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. “And Cap just makes it so easy.”

“I’m fine with anything,” Steve said, sighing. “As long as it has a happy ending.” Tony groaned, carrying an armful of snacks into the living room, mumbling under his breath about depressing super soldiers. Steve winked at Natasha as soon as Tony’s back was turned, his plan of manipulating Tony working perfectly. He didn’t know why everyone thought he was so innocent, but he used it to his advantage when necessary. Clint laughed heartily, slapping his hand down on the counter. Steve grabbed a bag of pretzels on his way to the living room, The Wizard of Oz already queued up on the big screen.

They made it a few minutes into the movie before Tony’s StarkPad let out a quiet ding, pulling everyone’s attention from the TV. Tony gave it a slight quizzical look before tucking it away, waving off everyone’s eyes.

“Just an email,” he said, grabbing a handful of popcorn and shoving it into his mouth. Steve turned back to the screen, pretending not to notice the look Natasha was giving Tony. He brushed it aside, not wanting to get caught up in whatever they were glaring at each other about. Dorothy was about to get caught in the tornado. Steve loved this movie, not only because it was from his time, but because he enjoyed it with Bucky. They didn’t have a lot of money, but whenever they could scrape together a little extra, they would go to the movies and imagine themselves in the fantasy worlds, where Steve was never sick and they always had money for food. Now, it held a different place in his heart. Steve could identify with Dorothy, knowing what it was like to be pulled from your world and dropped into another. Except he didn’t have ruby slippers to take him back. 

Steve watched, smiling as Dorothy met her new friends, thinking of his own. His teammates were nothing like the characters of Oz, but he still liked to imagine them as being a part of the story. He sure wished the enemies they fought were as easy to defeat as the wicked witch.

“Sorry to interrupt Sir, but there seems to be someone trying to get into the tower,” Jarvis said, making everyone’s heads snap up toward the ceiling.

“Show me,” Tony demanded, grabbing a pair of Iron Man bracelets from a side table. The movie cut off to show a feed from the security cameras at one of the tower doors, a lone figure banging on the door.

“Celia?” Steve said aloud, surprised. Why would she come back here so late? Unless something was wrong. She looked mad, slamming her palms into the fortified glass. Tony looked around the room, looking to the rest of them for their opinion on what to do.

“Let her in, I guess Jarvis,” Tony started. “And tell Banner to get his ass up here pronto. Maybe have him bring a tranquilizer, just in case.”

“Tony!” Steve admonished, throwing his uninjured arm up in the air.

“What! The last time someone fiddled around trying to recreate you, we got the Hulk. I don’t think we can be too careful,” Tony defended, pointing at the angry woman on the screen. They watched her step back a little when the door unlocked, before she stomped out of frame into the building. Steve moved closer to the elevator doors, wanting to intercept her before she got to Tony. He didn’t know why she would come back angry after all this time, but he thought he should try to calm things down before they got out of hand. The doors slid open, revealing a furious Celia. Her steps faltered a little when she saw him, giving his shoulder a quick glance before she stopped in front of him.

“Did you know?” she asked, searching his face for the truth.

“Know what?” he asked, bewildered. She brushed past him, walking right up to Tony and thrusting her hand out between them.

“What, the fuck, is this?” Celia growled, staring down Tony. Steve walked up to stand between them to the side, peering at what Celia had in her hand. It was a little black square that he didn’t recognize, but it sure seemed like Tony did. Tony made a show of slapping his forehead and looking relieved.

“So that’s where that ended up,” Tony chuckled, grabbing at Celia’s hand. She snatched it back, looking even angrier.

“What gives you the right?” Celia yelled, balling her fists, squeezing the little object in her palm.

“What is going on? What is that?” Steve interjected, moving in between them to keep them apart. He looked to Tony, who glanced away. He turned back to face Celia, her face red with anger. “Tell me,” he asked quietly.

“It’s a fucking GPS tracker,” Celia hissed out, pointing a finger at Tony. “He put a GPS tracker in my bag.” Steve spun around to look at Tony, not wanting to believe what he was hearing, but knowing it was true when he saw the look on his face. He looked a little guilty, but also justified, gearing himself up to argue his side.

“Tony, how could you? That was so inappropriate,” Steve scolded, shaking his head at the man. He never should’ve taken that nap.

“What’s going on here?” Bruce asked, walking carefully into the room. He glanced around at all the tense faces, looking worried.

“Did you know?” Celia asked, whirling around to face Bruce. 

“I’ve been in my lab all day. When did you even come back?” Bruce asked, looking around the group for someone to fill him in.

“Okay, I think everyone needs to just take a minute and calm down. We can figure this all out,” Steve said, trying to take control of the situation. He gently herded Celia to one side of the room, careful not to touch or crowd her. Tony, Clint, and Natasha went to the other side, whispering quietly to each other. Bruce stayed where he was in the middle, still looking thoroughly confused. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea he did that. I would’ve stopped him if I had known,” Steve apologized, trying to ease the tension. Celia squatted down on the balls of her feet, raking her free hand through her hair. She looked more resigned than angry now, sighing and tilting her head back to lean against the wall behind her.

“I can’t do this. I can’t deal with this,” she whispered, rubbing a fist into her eye. Bruce slowly crept over to where Steve was standing, a curious look on his face.

“Your arm,” he marveled quietly, running a hand across his mouth. “It’s healed.” Steve’s eyes snapped down to Celia, looking at her arms. He had noticed the cut on it before she left, but hadn’t thought to ask where it came from. But Bruce was right, the cut was gone.

“Oh my God,” Steve mumbled, pacing a few steps away from everyone. This was his fault. If he had disarmed the man before he got a shot off, none of this would have happened and Celia would still be a normal woman.

“I was looking for my phone, so I could look up a number to call you on, but I found this instead,” Celia said quietly, dropping the tracker on the floor in front of her. “What happens now?”

“Now, we let Shield handle this,” Tony said, fiddling with his bracelets. Celia scowled at him from her crouched position, anger building back up in her eyes.

“So now I don’t have a choice?” she asked, slowly rising back up to her full height. “I lost all my freedom?”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Unless you’ve got something to hide.”

“Turning yourself over to a government agency doesn’t usually work out well for anyone, no matter what the person’s background is,” Celia shot back, taking a step toward Tony. Steve moved back over to the middle of the room, ready to stop things from going too far.

“Let’s just take the night to think about things, okay?” Steve suggested, looking back and forth between the two.

“I don’t need to think, Steve,” Celia said quietly, backing slowly toward the door with her arms raised. “No one decides my life but me. I’m going home and I’m asking you to respect that.”

“Wait,” Steve said, reaching out for her hand. She snatched it back before he could make contact, but stopped walking. Steve looked around at his team. Tony looked angry and suspicious. Natasha and Clint looked carefully blank, with only a pinch of curiosity peeking through. Bruce looked contemplative, really the only one of them that could understand where Celia was coming from with her fear of government control. Bruce had hidden away for years in fear of being studied.

“Go,” Steve said, nodding toward the door.

“You can’t be serious!” Tony exploded, waving his arms in anger.

“What right do we have to make decisions for another person, against their will? All of us consented to be here and can leave whenever we want,” Steve said, trying to get Tony to understand where he was coming from. The others didn’t seem to need any convincing, letting him make the final call for them at the moment.

“What if she’s dangerous?” Tony asked, grinding his teeth.

“All of us are dangerous, but we can’t condemn her when she hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Anything happens and it’s on you,” Tony said, punctuating his words with a jab to Steve’s chest. He stormed off toward the staircase, slamming the door behind him. Steve sighed, resting his chin on his chest. His team was fracturing before his eyes, but he didn’t regret his decision.

“I’m not a bad person,” Celia said softly, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt anyone, it’s just… I just want to live my life.”

“I understand,” Steve said with a small smile.

“I need time to process this. It’s not just me I have to think about,” Celia mumbled, biting her knuckle. Steve walked over to the desk in the corner, jotting down a note on a piece of scrap paper.

“I want you to have my number, in case anything happens. You have any problems, any questions, or just need to talk to someone, call me. I’ll do my best to keep you off of Shield’s radar, but you might have to come in to answer some questions soon,” Steve said, holding out the piece of paper for her to take. He squeezed her fingers briefly as she took it, looking into her eyes one last time. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.” Celia nodded, swiping quickly at her eyes as she walked back to the elevator. She got on when it came, not turning around until the doors closed.

“I hope you made the right call, Cap,” Bruce said, glancing up at him.

“I would’ve done the same for you, if I had been there,” Steve stated confidently. He clapped Bruce fondly on the back, walking over to the elevator. “Jarvis, what floor is Tony on?”

“My apologies, sir, but Mr. Stark is denying your company for the night,” the computer answered, sounding more contrite than a computer should be able to. Steve sighed, shrugging back at Bruce.

“I guess I’ll have to try tomorrow.”


	11. Chapter 11

Tony was fuming. How dare Cap not take his side over an outsider’s? He was in his lab, taking out his frustrations on a metal project he was working on for Shield. He wished Pepper was here, instead of on an extended business trip in Japan. She always knew the right thing to say to calm him down.

Tony knew he was taking a chance when he slipped that tracker into Celia’s bag. He just needed to know, needed to be sure. Things like this didn’t just happen and with the hinkey information his search had brought up, someone had to make the tough decisions. If he had to look like the jerk, so be it. He would rather go too far and be wrong, than not do enough and be right. One resulted in hurt feelings, the other could mean a different kind of hurt. 

“Jarvis, keep Cap off my floor tonight,” Tony commanded, banging at a tricky corner with his mallet. If he was imagining Steve’s face while he did it, well that was his business. “And get Romanoff to come see me. Discreetly, no Barton.” He felt like he could still convince Natasha to help him, since she rarely let feelings get in the way of getting the job done. If anyone would be able to get to the truth, it was her.

“You wanted to see me?” Natasha asked, making Tony jump in surprise from her sudden appearance.

“Don’t do that!” Tony huffed, covering his heart with his hand. “How’d you get here so fast? I just barely told Jarvis to send for you.”

“I have my ways,” she answered smoothly, looking at her nails. “What do you want?”

“We all saw how my tracker plan crashed and burned, so we need to move into phase two. I think you should follow her, make sure she doesn’t do anything weird before I can finish my background check,” Tony said, setting down his mallet and walking to stand in front of her.

“What do you think she’s gonna do?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t know and that’s the problem. Most likely, she’ll run. But what if she tells someone? Imagine what can happen if she falls into the wrong hands? They could use her as a weapon or try to recreate her the same way, and that puts Cap in danger. And if he’s not gonna take care of himself, then I will,” Tony spat out, raking a hand through his hair.

“You’re scared,” Natasha said, surprised. “That’s why you’re doing all this.”

“What are you talking about?” Tony grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You try so hard to pretend like you don’t care about the rest of us, but when any of us get hurt, you hover like crazy.”

“I do not!”

“So why are we all living in your tower?”

“Logistics!”

“Remember when Clint hurt his shoulder? You completely redesigned his bow and made a whole new set of special arrows for him.”

“For the good of the team! I would do that for any of you,” Tony pointed out, feeling disgruntled by Natasha’s psychoanalyzing. 

“That’s exactly my point. You would do anything for the team and you feel responsible for keeping us safe. It’s sweet, really,” Natasha said with a smile. Tony stalked back over to his work, smashing the mallet down on the metal with renewed vigor. Natasha was wrong. He wasn’t scared, he was smart. And until the facts proved one way or the other, Tony was going to keep investigating. 

“Does all that crap mean you’ll help me?” Tony asked, swiping the sweat from his brow.

“Yes, I’ll help you. But why did you want me to hide this from Clint?” Natasha asked, running her finger along the edge of Tony’s project.

“Clint’s too soft on Cap,” Tony grouched. “Now that Cap will be suspicious, I don’t trust that he’ll keep his mouth shut. We all know who the best liar is, Natalie.” Natasha laughed him off, not looking offended at all by Tony’s words. 

“I guess I’ll go get some sleep. I have some long days ahead of me,” Natasha said, disappearing as quickly as she came. Tony breathed out a sigh of relief, glad at least one of his teammates was on his side. He wanted answers ASAP, before anything else went wrong.

*

Celia jogged her way back toward the subway station, cursing her lack of planning when she left her warm apartment in a tank top and shorts to run around New York City at night. It was early May, so the weather was pretty nice during the day, but at almost 11pm, it was pretty chilly. Normally, Celia wouldn’t be out this late alone, especially this far from home, but seeing that tracker in her bag made all rational thought go out the window. She felt so violated, on top of everything else that had happened that day. First, her body had been irrevocably changed without warning or consent, then Tony had dug into her past, and then the tracker added on had her seeing red. She needed to set things into motion, before more of her life was taken out of her hands.

Celia rooted around in her bag, still trying to find her bitch of a phone. She really needed to empty out her trash, the chaos of it frustrating her even more.

“Fuck!” she yelled, ignoring the startled stares of people walking by. Her fingers finally brushed across the smooth plastic of her phone case and she pulled it out triumphantly. Celia ducked under the awning of a nearby bakery. Out of the way, but still in view of the sidewalk under good lighting. She dialed a number she luckily memorized, the number only saved in her other cell phone.

“Hello?” a groggy voice groaned into the phone.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Celia apologized.

“Celia? What number is this?” the voice asked, sounding more alert.

“Yeah Deb, it’s me. I had to call on my main phone, it’s kind of an emergency,” Celia answered, hating to do this, but knowing she had no other choice.

“Are you okay?” Deb asked, sounding worried.

“Yes, I’m fine and Kathy’s fine, but something’s come up and I’m gonna need you to take her earlier than we planned,” Celia sighed.

“When?”

“Tomorrow night. I’m picking up the last of her things tomorrow morning, so she’ll be all set with that, but my apartment might not be safe anymore.”

“Are you in danger?” Deb asked. “Do you need help?”

“It’s complicated,” Celia answered, being vague on purpose. “I can handle things, but I can’t do it with Kathy there.”

“Shit, okay. What time?”

“Plan for 6pm, at the usual spot. If you don’t hear from me by 5pm, do the delivery trick at my apartment. I gotta get home and pack some stuff. And figure out how to tell Kathy in the morning,” Celia said, rubbing at her eyes.

“She doesn’t know yet?”

“Fuck, it’s all so sudden. And I don’t want her to freak out. I think I’ll tell her it’s a work emergency, I don’t know,” Celia mumbled, resuming her walk toward the subway station.

“Good luck, I’ll be ready,” Deb said, hanging up the phone. Celia threw her phone back in her bag and took the stairs to the tunnel two at a time. The sooner she could get home, the sooner she could get what she needed done.


	12. Chapter 12

Tony sat in his lab, drinking his third cup of coffee. He had slept in the lab for a few hours last night, not bothering to go up to his floor. He didn’t want to have a chance encounter with Cap or anyone else really. Tony tried not to think much about the previous day, little bits of guilt creeping in as time passed. In all honesty, he didn’t really have anything against Celia, but this was all happening so fast and he was not one to trust easily. And too many things weren’t adding up. 

Jarvis had done more sleuthing and found out that the name change had been legal, but the court records were sealed. Was she in Witness Protection? Did she have some sordid past that she was running from? Until he knew for sure, he had to assume she wasn’t safe.

Natasha had left two hours ago to begin her surveillance, promising updates if anything came up. He hated this part of the job, which is why he let others handle it. Investigating wasn’t his thing, he would rather swoop in as Iron Man and take care of business, not do the work figuring out what business needed to be done. 

He briefly glanced at his project from the night before, not in the mood to bang on anything at the moment. His other projects involved too much careful tinkering and he didn’t have the concentration they deserved. He kept running through what Natasha had said to him last night, trying to poke holes in her theory. 

Tony Stark didn’t get scared. Tony Stark flew a nuke through a wormhole. 

As if some team drama could shake him. Although, if he really let himself think about it, his heart just about leapt into his throat when he got Cap’s call yesterday morning. Rogers was not the type to ask anyone for help, but when Tony heard the sound of his voice, it was like a bucket of ice water rushed through his veins. And the abrupt hang up only made things worse. Those few minutes of suiting up, contacting Shield, getting to the building, and finding out what floor the elevator was stuck on were the longest of his life. He had no idea what he would see when the doors opened, but when he saw Cap was alive and mostly well, he played it off cool and aloof. Once again, he was appreciative of the privacy the Iron Man helmet gave him. 

“Sir, there is an incoming call for you from Ms. Romanoff,” Jarvis said, interrupting his thoughts.

“Put her through,” he said quickly, ready for any type of news. “What’ve you got?” Tony asked, as soon as the call connected.

“She’s been busy,” Natasha said cooly, “Hasn’t stopped moving since she left her place an hour ago.”

“Give me a rundown,” Tony demanded, adding on a hasty “please” when Natasha huffed out an annoyed laugh.

“Her first stop was the bank. I obviously couldn’t go in, but I watched through the window and it took a bit longer than a normal transaction, with some paperwork having to be signed. Second stop was a storage unit. In and out pretty quickly, but she came out with a couple duffle bags. Now, I’m following her on the street,” Natasha relayed, the sounds of other people faintly in the background.

“So she’s running,” Tony said, pounding his fist down on the table in front of him. He knew they shouldn’t have let her leave before sending her to Shield. She should be their problem right now, not his.

“Seems like it.”

“Don’t let her out of your sight!”

“Oh, is that how I do my job? I wasn’t sure. Maybe you should come out here and do it yourself,” Natasha suggested, sounding irritated.

“Sorry, I’m just frustrated,” Tony grumbled, not wanting to anger Natasha into abandoning their mission. “I will defer to you from now on, Master Spy.”

“I could get used to being referred to as such,” Natasha said brightly. He could practically hear the smug smile in her voice. “Hold on,” she said abruptly. Tony stopped his restless movements, as if it would help anything.

“What is it?” he whispered, although he wasn’t sure why.

“She just made a buy,” Natasha said, sounding mildly impressed. 

“Of what? Are you sure?”

“Oh yeah, it was pretty smooth too. They did the accidental bump, pretty textbook. I couldn’t see what was exchanged, but the guy doesn’t look like a drug dealer. Probably papers.”

“She’s definitely running, shit!” Tony yelled, swiping a pile of paper onto the floor. One of his robots immediately rolled over and started picking them up, forcing Tony to move away from the table. He started pacing, trying to figure out their next moves. Should they call Shield now? Give Celia a chance to explain herself?

“What do you want me to do?” Natasha asked. “I think we have all the info we need to prove there’s something going on.”

“Bring her back to the tower. I want answers and if we turn her over to Shield, I might not get the ones I want,” Tony said, tapping a steady beat on his thigh. 

“Alright.” Tony listened as Natasha’s steps picked up, now that she didn’t have to be careful to not be spotted. “Oh my gosh Celia, what a surprise running into you!” Natasha said in an overly cheery voice.

“Fuck,” Celia hissed, blowing out a startled breath. “What do you want?”

“I was hoping we could have a little girl talk, maybe back at the tower,” Natasha suggested in a way that made it clear it wasn’t optional.

“Damn, that sounds like fun, but I’m booked solid for the rest of the day. I think I’ll be able to squeeze you in tomorrow though,” Celia brushed off. Tony hated not being able to watch what was happening, but was glad Natasha hadn’t hung up the phone, so he could listen.

“I insist,” Natasha said, a slight edge to her voice now.

“I’m busy,” Celia ground out.

“Let me talk to her,” Tony cut in, sick of being on the outside of the conversation.

“Are you sure? I think she likes you least of all Tin Man,” Natasha joked.

“Very funny Wicked Witch, just do it,” Tony snarled.

“My associate would like to talk to you,” Natasha said, pulling the phone away from her ear.

“No.”

“She said no,” Natasha relayed, slightly amused.

“I heard her,” Tony snapped. “I thought you were good at this. Threaten her or something, I’m sick of playing games!”

“You can talk to us or you can talk to Shield, your choice,” Natasha said, making Tony smile. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

“Please, I just need a day. I’ll go wherever you want me to tomorrow, I’ll answer all your questions, but I need a day,” Celia said, a bit of desperation leaking into her voice.

“Sorry, but after what I saw today, you are a definite flight risk. So, you can either come with me quietly, or come with me the hard way,” Natasha said, done with the conversation. She whistled loudly, making Tony cringe away from the phone. He heard the sounds of a car door opening and Natasha prattling off the address of the tower. “See you soon.” Natasha cut off the call and Tony sagged down onto a stool. The hard part was over. Now he had to round up the rest of the team for the interrogation.


	13. Chapter 13

Celia sat huddled in the back of the taxi, trying to calm her trembling body. This was not good. She naively thought her luck had changed when she got back to her apartment and Kathy was still asleep. She hadn’t been looking forward to the freak out Kathy would’ve had if she’d woken up in the middle of the night to an empty apartment. Celia spent the rest of the night packing up what she could and getting things ready for today.

The talk with Kathy also hadn’t been the shitshow she was expecting, the woman able to relax and listen to Celia’s reasoning for her early departure and accepting that it was for the best. Luckily, Deb had been able to talk to her a little on the phone, so she wasn’t going to be stuck with a complete stranger. She got Kathy to pack up her few possessions in the apartment, making a quick breakfast for them before leaving to do her last minute errands. Celia should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.

Her first three stops went well, nothing holding her up, but she should’ve known Tony wouldn’t just let her roam freely after their last encounter. Her situational awareness skills were pretty honed, but she was more focused on getting her job done than she was on what was going on around her. When Natasha walked up, coming out of nowhere, she silently panicked. Why did she have to go to the tower last night? Celia should’ve ignored her impulses and gotten Kathy out safely before she put herself squarely back into the Avengers radar. But now she was in the back of a cab with the Black Widow, on her way to her doom. She had to get out of this and back to her apartment in time to get Kathy her stuff, she just didn’t know how yet.

The cab pulled up to the tower, much quicker than Celia wanted it to. She made no move to get out, not planning on making this easy for anyone. Natasha paid the driver and opened the door on her side, motioning for Celia to follow. She thought about trying to get Natasha out of the car and asking the cabbie to drive away, but she knew that would only put Kathy in danger. They would definitely send someone straight to her apartment and she would never beat them there. Celia might be able to escape if she ran, but Kathy wouldn’t and she couldn’t do that to her. Celia reluctantly slid out of the car, standing beside Natasha on the sidewalk. She briefly thought again about alerting one of the people on the street, but that also left her in the same predicament. It was times like this she wished she had even less ties than she had now. 

Celia followed Natasha into the building, keeping a death grip on her two duffle bags. There were a lot more people wandering around the lobby this time, but none of them seemed to be paying attention to the two of them walking to the private elevator. Celia groaned, not wanting to be stuck in the metal box with the computer man again. They entered as soon as the doors opened, Celia standing in the corner away from Natasha.

“Take us to Tony please Jarvis,” Natasha directed. Celia spent the short trip psyching herself up. She did not know the right way to play this to get herself free in time to meet Deb. She cursed the man from yesterday in her head, and cursed Steve’s enhanced blood. They were the reason she was in this mess. The elevator doors opened to reveal a smug looking Tony, standing on the penthouse floor of the tower. Great, that eliminated the option of jumping out the window to escape. Celia didn’t move from her spot, anger making her petty and defiant.

“Ms. Burke, if you could join us in the seating area, we have a few questions to ask you,” Tony said gleefully. Celia wanted nothing more than to slap that look off of his face. Maybe she’d try later, super healing should have some perks. She stayed where she was, keeping her face blank. Celia perfected the dead eye stare as a teen and didn’t pull it out often, but she felt it was appropriate now. Natasha walked off, gesturing back to her, making her Tony’s problem now. Tony impatiently tapped his foot, waiting for Celia to make a move. She was not giving him anything.

“I can’t deal with this,” Tony grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Rogers!” Steve peeked his head around the corner, looking completely apologetic and that made Celia even angrier. This team’s lack of cohesiveness was atrocious. How did they get anything accomplished when they couldn’t even agree on what to do with her?

“Hey Steve, long time, no see,” Celia ground out, breaking her silence. Steve walked onto the elevator with her, pushing Tony out of the way a little. He gestured vaguely to her duffle bags.

“Going somewhere?” he asked with a grimace.

“Was it not allowed? Am I under arrest?” she shot back annoyed.

“You have to admit, it doesn’t look good,” Steve sighed. Celia shrugged, not admitting or denying. She knew she looked shady as hell, but if they had left her alone for one day, they wouldn’t have seen all this and would’ve gotten what they wanted without a fight. Now, they were gonna have to beat it out of her.

“Is this the part where you lock me in a cell and hand me off to the Men in Black?” Celia joked, suppressing a smile at Steve’s confused face.

“Shield wears more of a dark navy,” Steve said, shaking his head a little.

“It’s a movie reference, Cap!” Tony yelled, frustrated with this standoff. “Maybe you’d know by now if you watched something other than Wizard of freaking Oz!” Steve cocked his uninjured hand on his hip, scowling at Tony. These were the guys that saved the world? The guys heckling each other about movies?

“Jarvis, initiate code jiffy pop,” Tony commanded, stepping away from the elevator. Celia glanced around nervously, waiting for the computer to murder her. The elevator car started to shake suddenly, the wall she was leaning against heating up.

“What the fuck!” she gasped out, startled. Steve grabbed her arm and pulled her off the elevator, into the safety of the penthouse. 

“What was that?” Steve shouted, shoving Tony a little once he saw she was okay. Celia caught her breath, vowing again to only use elevators when absolutely necessary. 

“A little something I worked on last night,” Tony answered, laughing. Celia sank down to the floor against the wall next to the elevator, clutching her bags to her chest. She was so damn tired, not getting any sleep after her few minutes last night. Tony and Steve were arguing to her right, but she couldn’t be bothered to listen. Celia finally had a moment of peace, so she rested her head down on her bags, closing her eyes to try to clear her mind. She vaguely noticed someone sitting next to her, ignoring them until she felt a gentle hand on her wrist. She turned her head, face to face with a sheepish Bruce who was checking her pulse.

“Sorry, but the scientist in me couldn’t wait anymore,” Bruce apologized, removing his hand when he got the information he wanted. 

“I wasn’t running,” she said quietly, laying her head down again while still facing Bruce. “I was getting my affairs in order, just in case.”

“In case of what?” Bruce asked.

“In case it was my last chance.”

Bruce glanced away, looking like he wanted to argue that she would be completely safe with Shield, but knowing he couldn’t make that promise. As soon as word got out about what happened to her, her life would never go back to the way it was.

“Up and at ‘em!” Tony yelled, clapping his hands loudly above her. She jumped, not noticing him walk over to her.

“Tony, you don’t have to be a jerk!” Steve reprimanded, smacking him on the arm. Celia stayed where she was, not willing to give Tony anything.

“Then tell your girlfriend to stop being so stubborn,” Tony shot back, rubbing at his arm at Steve’s not so playful slap.

“She’s not my girlfriend, Tony. Why would you even say something like that?” Steve said, looking embarrassed. Tony rolled his eyes, looking to the rest of the team for help. Clint and Natasha were standing away from them all, observing like usual. Bruce was still sitting next to her, not saying anything in favor of Tony’s cause.

“Jarvis, x-ray the bags and tell me what’s inside,” Tony commanded, making Celia groan. This was not gonna help her standing in their eyes.

“One bag appears to hold clothes. The other has clothes and what looks like money, sir,” Jarvis answered, the snitch. Tony snickered at Steve’s crestfallen face.

“It’s over, Celia,” Tony said with mock seriousness, holding his hand out for her bags. She looked to both Steve and Bruce, who wouldn’t meet her gaze, and knew she had lost her only possible allies. Celia dropped her bags to the floor, kicking them so they slid to rest in front of Tony.

“Knock yourself out,” she spat out, glaring at the man.

“You’re sure there are no bombs in here Jarvis?” Tony asked, toeing the bags a little before he opened them. At Jarvis’ assurances that they were safe, he bent down and opened the first one. This one was full of clothes, mostly shirts and pants. He pushed it aside when nothing seemed too interesting and opened the second. Celia felt a small stab of satisfaction when Tony had to wade through bras and panties to get to the money underneath. It wasn’t much, but it was all she could spare for Kathy, who would appreciate it more than words could say.

“Care to explain?” Tony asked, holding up a few bundles of money. The small bundles of five dollar bills in Tony’s hand made Celia snort a little, looking so depressing on the billionaire’s palm. They were saved from waiting long for the answer Celia wasn’t going to give by Natasha walking over and eyeballing the clothes.

“These clothes aren’t for you,” she said, holding up a shirt and bra.

“How could you possibly know that?” Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Did you guys have some nice fashion girl talk while you were in the taxi?”

“They’re extra small. There’s no way she could fit in them,” Natasha said, ignoring Tony’s jab.

“That’s rude, Natasha. We don’t body shame,” Tony said, shaking his head.

“She’s your height, Tony. These clothes would be ridiculously short on her,” Natasha shot back, dropping the clothes in the bag.

“Well, maybe she had a post serum growth spurt like Cap and these are the only clothes she has?” Tony suggested, looking to Steve for confirmation.

“No, nothing like that happened,” Steve said, ruining Tony’s theory. Celia stayed quiet, still not willing to aid them in their quest for answers.

“I don’t think it really matters at this point,” Tony declared, standing back up. “She isn’t answering any questions, so I think it’s time to call in Shield.”

“What did you buy?” Natasha asked. “From that man on the street.”

Shit. 

Celia didn’t know if Natasha had seen that and had been closer to believing she hadn’t when the subject hadn’t been brought up yet. Her precious parcel was nestled up in the inner pocket of her jacket, safe from prying eyes, but she knew not for long. This was gonna expose her secret. It was over. Celia crossed her arms over her chest, giving one last attempt to block them from finding her out.

“How could I forget?” Tony gasped in mock horror.

“Was it drugs?” Steve whispered, looking down at her. He looked so disappointed, like a parent scolding a child. Like, of all the things so far, the possibility of her buying drugs was the thing to focus on. For him to finally pipe up and become an active member of the conversation. She wished it was drugs right now, anything to dull her from this reality.

“Hand it over, or I’ll just have to take it,” Tony threatened. “No, I’ll have Natasha take it.”

“Get your notepad out, Bruce. I think you’re about to see how my super healing works,” Celia piped up, grinning evilly at Tony. Steve quickly stepped in the space between them, not letting anyone get close to the other. He squatted down to face her, puppy dog eyes in full gear.

“I know there is a perfectly good explanation for all of this. You’re a good person, I can feel it in my bones. Please, just answer some of Tony’s questions to show him you can be trusted. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, but it will be out of my hands if Tony calls in Shield,” Steve pleaded, setting a hesitant hand on her knee.

Celia felt her resolve cracking, looking into Steve’s soulful blue eyes. How could a man who looked like he could snap you in half, also look so endearing? Why couldn’t Steve have approached her for information first, instead of a heavy handed Tony? Flies and honey and all that must not be a concept with these people. She bit her lip, thoughts of giving up the info and Kathy warring in her mind. Steve’s hand on her knee was heavy and warm. She looked for any signs of manipulation in his eyes and found none. Celia took a deep breath, apologizing to Kathy in her head.

“If I tell you, can you promise me it doesn’t leave this room?” she whispered.

“I will do everything in my power to see that it doesn’t,” Steve answered firmly. Celia grabbed the package out of her pocket, sliding it to Tony before she changed her mind. He picked it up, taking the item out of it’s sleeve.

“Martha Henderson, age 35. Five feet tall, 100 pounds, lives in Jersey,” Tony read off, squinting at the little card. “Looks expertly made, but the picture looks nothing like you. And the details… you should ask for your money back.”

“Who’s that for?” Steve asked, still staring at her.

“I’m a part of something like an underground railroad of sorts, rescuing women from domestic violence situations. Martha Henderson is waiting for me to bring these things to help her start her new life.”

“That,” Tony started, “was not what I was expecting.” 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Steve asked softly.

“It’s not my information to give out,” Celia answered quietly, glaring at Tony. “And with the way private information is treated around here, it didn’t really feel safe to share.” 

“What’s your real name?” Tony asked, not fully satisfied with her explanation so far.

“Celia Burke is my legal name. It was changed through the courts and sealed in accordance with domestic violence laws,” Celia answered, dispassionately. It was easier for her to talk about her past in a matter of fact way, instead of with emotion.

“What was your birth name?” Tony asked.

“Nope, that’s none of your business,” Celia stated, not budging on this one at all. She left all that behind her and no one in her life now knew that information.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth if we can’t check?” Tony questioned.

“You don’t.” Everyone was silent, not knowing what to say next. Celia just stared at Steve’s hand that was still on her knee. He was looking at the floor, like he had forgotten he had put it there, or it was just a normal thing for him to do.

“I believe you,” Steve said, giving her knee one last squeeze before standing up. He offered her a hand up, pulling her to her feet. Bruce stood up slowly too, stretching out his back. “What do you need to do?”

“I need to go back to my apartment to drop this stuff off. Maybe make a phone call,” she answered, scrubbing a hand over her face. 

“I can take you,” Steve suggested.

“With one arm and no car,” Tony snorted, earning himself a glare from Steve. “I can get one of my drivers to take you.” Every head in the room swiveled toward Tony, not expecting him to offer her   
anything, except maybe a ride to Shield.

“No thanks,” Celia declined, not signing herself up to get stuck in one of Tony’s cars. “I can get there on my own.” Tony looked like he wanted to object, but stayed quiet after a sharp elbow to the ribs from Natasha. Celia walked in front of Tony, stooping down to close and pick up her bags. She held out her hand, waiting for Tony to give her back the ID. He begrudgingly handed it over, gripping her wrist before she could pull away.

“I, maybe, could’ve handled this a little better,” he said with a wince, sounding sincere. “But I’m glad you aren’t the evil villain I thought you might be.” Celia pulled her hand away, considering Tony’s words.

“I understand. I know what it’s like to go to unconventional lengths to protect the people I care about,” she said, shaking the ID a little before putting it back into her jacket pocket. She understood from the beginning where Tony was coming from with his suspicion, but she could tell he was not in charge of getting answers from people, because he seriously lacked finesse. 

“Damn, I’m not that forgiving,” Clint said, finally joining in the conversation. “I would’ve at least hit him.” He quickly dodged a swipe from Natasha, scampering away further into the room with her on his heels. 

“Bruce, get your children before they break my tower,” Tony groaned, stalking off to the bar.

“Since when are they my responsibility?” Bruce asked, trailing after Tony. Celia and Steve stood alone in the room now, not knowing what to do.

“Is it always so chaotic around here?” Celia asked, turning back to face him.

“Surprisingly no. It can get a little boring when there aren’t any missions going on,” Steve chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Celia said, walking toward the door to the staircase.

“What are you doing?” Steve asked, confused.

“Leaving…” she said, gesturing toward the door.

“Even I don’t take the stairs from this floor,” Steve laughed, walking toward the elevator. “I promise Jarvis won’t do anything weird. I’ll protect you.”

“Our track record in elevators isn’t the best,” Celia pointed out, feeling immediately regretful at the guilty look on Steve’s face. “Too soon? Laugh through the pain and all that.” She took a deep breath and stepped onto the elevator with Steve, wanting to make up for her poorly timed joke. Celia stayed away from the walls, remembering the last time she was in there.

“What is Jiffy Pop anyways?” Steve asked, whispering in her ear to try to keep Jarvis from hearing and turning it on.

“It’s shitty popcorn you cook on the stove,” Celia muttered, eyeballing the roof to glare at the computer.

“Ohhh, I get it,” Steve said, shaking his head. “That Tony can be a real rascal.”

“A rascal indeed. Although, nowadays we’d just call him a dick,” Celia pointed out. Steve barked out a laugh, holding his stomach.

“You remind me of someone. She would always speak her mind,” Steve said, sobering a little when he mentioned his past. Celia didn’t pry, letting the rest of the ride pass in silence. What right did she have to ask personal questions when she kept her own history off limits? They stepped off the elevator and walked to the exit of the tower, Steve hovering uncertainly behind her. Celia glanced back at him, edging her way further out of the building.

“I’ll see you later, I guess,” she said, trying to get rid of him. It wasn’t like he was terrible company, but she needed to get Kathy set up and then she was really looking forward to some alone time.

“Can I join you?” he asked, shooting her a small smile.

“Afraid I’ll disappear?”

“Of course not! I just… I don’t know,” he said, shrugging. Celia sighed, not wanting to brush him off, but really not wanting company either.

“You have to stay out of sight until after my friend leaves,” Celia acquiesced, giving him the okay to follow. He held open the door for her with a smile. She started walking in the direction of the subway stop when Steve’s hand stopped her.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“The subway,” she answered, gesturing in the direction of the stop.

“I thought we could take a cab,” Steve suggested, looking hopeful.

“What’s wrong with the subway?”

“Nothing, it’s just a cab would be so much faster and you have those heavy bags,” Steve said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“The bags aren’t that heavy, it’s fine,” she brushed off, tilting her head in the direction of the subway, trying to urge him along.

“Then let me carry them,” Steve said, reaching out with his uninjured arm.

“No, you haven’t healed all the way, I’m not gonna let you carry my bags!” Celia scoffed, shaking her head.

“See, I knew you’d say that! I can’t walk around with you carrying all that stuff and me carrying nothing. How would that make me look?” Steve blurted out, looking embarrassed. Celia rolled her eyes, not believing she was in an argument with Captain America about his gentlemanly image.

“It’s the 21st century, Steve. No one cares that much,” Celia groaned, more than ready to be on her way.

“Well, I care. It would be impolite,” Steve stated, crossing his arms with finality. “I’ll pay.” Celia huffed out an annoyed breath, staring down the stubborn man. When she saw he wasn’t budging, she begrudgingly nodded her head toward the street, giving him permission to hail a cab. Steve smiled brightly at her, getting a taxi for them with quick ease. He opened her door and waved her in, dropping down beside her after she slid over. As soon as they were on their way, Celia rooted around in her bag again, looking for her phone. She found it easier this time, having done a late night purge of its contents after she got home from the tower the second time. She dialed Deb, hoping to bump up her arrival time.

“Hello?”

“Hey Deb, it’s Celia.”

“Are you alright?” Deb asked, worry clear in her voice.

“Yeah, everything is good. I was wondering if there’s any chance for you to come sooner?” Celia asked. “It’s fine if you can’t, but I’m on my way back with all the stuff she needs.”

“I can be there in an hour. Where do you want to meet?” Deb agreed.

“My apartment is fine. See you then,” Celia said, hanging up after they said their goodbyes. She glanced over at Steve, who was watching the scenery as they rode along.

“I never really got up to this part of the city that often,” Steve said casually, turning back to face her. “I grew up in Brooklyn.”

“I have a few clients in Brooklyn. Or had. I don’t really know at this point,” Celia mumbled, frowning a little when she thought about what she said. What was she going to do now? Was she really going to be able to go back to her old life like nothing happened? Would she even be allowed? Did the government own her body now? Celia wrapped her arms around herself, staring out the window away from Steve. She couldn’t talk to him now with the driver in the car and she needed to get through getting Kathy sent off before she could worry about herself.

“Have you eaten yet? I could go for a big, juicy burger,” Steve suggested, trying to pull her out of her thoughts.

“You should go eat while I’m seeing my friend off, instead of just waiting around.”

“You don’t want to join me?” Steve asked, sounding slightly disappointed. She was saved from answering when the cabbie pulled up to their stop. Steve paid with a generous tip and they stepped out of the car.

“I should head in, make sure my friend is ready,” Celia said, slowly stepping away from Steve. “Have a good lunch and I’ll call you when she’s gone in like an hour.” She quickly walked off, not waiting for his answer. She turned back for one last look at him before she entered the building, seeing him give her a little wave. Celia nodded back, making her way to the staircase. Thank goodness her apartment was only on the third floor and she could avoid another elevator ride. She wouldn’t be so lucky when she came back down with Kathy.


	14. Chapter 14

Steve watched Celia disappear into her apartment building, standing alone on the sidewalk. He looked around, wondering what he should do while he waited. He was pretty hungry, but didn’t want to venture too far away. Steve was worried about Celia and reluctant to let her out of his sight, no matter how crazy that sounded. It wasn’t like anyone knew about what happened to her, but he kept imagining situations where she would be hurt in front of someone and they would find out. For someone with super healing, Celia was really vulnerable right now.

Steve crossed over to the other side of the street, staking his claim on the cleanest spot on an oversized planter. He pulled out his phone to kill time, like everyone else seemed to do. He googled the neighborhood, trying to find a good restaurant around them that wasn’t too expensive or modern. Steve really could go for a basic, classic burger and a casual lunch was a great, low pressure opportunity to get to know Celia better. 

Steve was startled out of his browsing by his phone’s loud ringing, a picture of Tony’s smiling face taking over his screen. Tony had tried to convince him to use a more modern ringtone, but Steve didn’t trust that he would recognize a random song playing as his phone ringing, the classic sound signalling his brain more easily at this point. Tony had begrudgingly set this tone, but made sure to take an obnoxious picture for his contact. Steve let the phone ring for a few seconds, debating if he should let the call go to voicemail. He was still a bit unhappy with how Tony handled the situation with Celia, but if she was willing to let it go, he figured he should respect her decision and do the same. He knew Tony’s heart was in the right place, but he really needed to work on his people skills.

“Hello Tony,” Steve sighed, bringing the phone to his ear.

“You don’t sound too happy to hear from me,” Tony pouted. Steve rolled his eyes, imagining Tony’s bottom lip poking out like a child.

“Did you need something, Stark?” Steve asked, impatiently tapping his foot. He was not the type to chat on the phone, especially when there wasn’t anything important to talk about. He much preferred talking in person, being able to read body language and look people in the eye.

“Wow, I remember receiving a call from you not too long ago and I was much more polite,” Tony scoffed. Steve grit his teeth, feeling immediately guilty for not showing Tony a little grace during this call so far. Tony had really come through for him yesterday and he didn’t deserve Steve being short with him.

“Sorry Tony,” Steve said, offering no excuses or qualifiers, just genuinely apologizing.

“Nah, it’s cool Cap,” Tony brushed off, sounding proud of himself for making Steve feel chastened. “I was just wondering how it was going with our zombie friend.”

“Zombie!” Steve blurted out, glancing around to see if anyone noticed his outburst.

“Yeah, you know, back from the dead,” Tony snickered. “Be careful if she starts sniffing around your head. Your shampoo doesn’t smell that good.”

“Tony, that’s awful! What a terrible thing to joke about,” Steve admonished. “And how do you know what my hair smells like?”

“I have boundary issues. And you didn’t answer me. How are things going?”

“It’s going fine. I’m just waiting for her to finish up some personal things.”

“So there isn’t danger lurking around every corner? Why else would you be following her around like a puppy?”

“I’m not following her like a puppy! I’m just offering support. And that’s real rich coming from a guy that had Natasha following her around this morning,” Steve scoffed.

“Natasha was like a predator. You’re more of an eager beaver, trailing after your new buddy,” Tony laughed. Steve frowned, annoyance bubbling back up.

“I’m hanging up now,” Steve said, pulling the phone away from his ear.

“Wait!” Tony’s voice called from the little speaker holes. Steve reluctantly put the phone back to his ear.

“Yeah?” Steve grunted, conveying just how done with this conversation he was.

“I was looking at the floorplans of the tower and trying to decide which floor would be best. The one under you doesn’t have much going on, but the ceilings are kind of low, which is why we skipped it in the first place. Then there is the one over Bruce’s lab, but the explosion possibilities make it seem like a no go. I could go lower, but then it might feel too separate from the rest of the team,” Tony rambled, causing Steve to shake his head in confusion.

“What are you talking about?” Steve asked, cutting off Tony’s musing. He had no idea what Tony was going on about.

“I’m trying to figure out Celia’s floor,” Tony answered, as if it was obvious.

“Celia’s floor?” Steve said, bewildered. How did Tony go from being the most suspicious of Celia to planning out a floor of his tower for her?

“I figured it would be safest for her to live in the tower, at least until we have a handle on this thing.”

“How do you think you’re gonna convince her to move into the tower?”

“Well, that’s where you come in.”

“Why me?” Steve asked, shaking his head, even if Tony couldn’t see it.

“It’ll sound the best coming from you. You guys have a thing,” Tony explained.

“What thing? We don’t have a thing,” Steve brushed off with a forced laugh. He hated when anyone talked about his personal life. It was private and he liked to keep it that way. Steve had been mortified during a moment of the battle clean up when a group of reporters had cornered him, asking about his love life. He would’ve fought his way out if they hadn’t been distracted by Iron Man flying in and pulling their attention to his over the top antics. Thank goodness he had the cowl.

“All I’m saying is you are the closest to her, apart from maybe Bruce. But anything coming from him might sound more mad scientist than worried friend. It’ll sound less creepy and weird coming from you, with your boy scout face,” Tony argued. Steve would be lying if he said he didn’t like the idea of keeping Celia close right now, when all of this was so new. But he knew springing this on her, in the middle of all this turmoil might be too much to handle. He definitely didn’t want her to feel like she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“I’ll bring it up,” Steve sighed, agreeing to Tony’s suggestion. “But you have to accept her answer, even if you don’t like it.”

“Of course, I’m not the type to be pushy,” Tony scoffed. Steve rolled his eyes, letting that obvious lie slide. 

“I’ll let you know what she says, just don’t start drawing up blueprints quite yet,” Steve said, watching a car pull up into a loading zone in front of Celia’s building. “I gotta go.” Steve pressed the end button on his phone, nonchalantly browsing through the settings so he could look occupied while he watched the car. This was a pretty quiet street without much car or foot traffic, so he didn’t want to call attention to himself by looking like a stalker. The driver typed something quickly into her phone, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. A few minutes later, Celia and a shorter woman walked out of the building carrying a few bags and boxes. They loaded everything into the trunk before Celia sprinted back into the building. The short woman glanced nervously around and Steve finally saw her face, recognizing her as the woman on Celia’s fake ID. Celia came back out of the building quickly, carrying a few more boxes. She exchanged a few words with the driver before giving her a quick hug, whispering something in her ear. Celia turned to the nervous woman, pulling her into a more forceful hug, the woman gripping desperately onto her back. Celia gently stroked the back of the woman’s head, dipping down to whisper something to her also. The woman nodded, standing straighter and more determined when they broke apart. Celia smiled proudly, wiping the woman’s tears away and gently guiding her to the car. With one last squeeze of their hands, the woman got in the car, waving a little as the car pulled away.

Steve tucked his phone back into his pocket, feeling oddly emotional from what he just watched. He cleared his throat, looking up to where Celia stood alone on the sidewalk, watching after the car as it turned out of sight. She glanced up at him, motioning for him to join her. Steve trotted to her side, giving her a small smile.

“How was your lunch?” Celia asked, scrubbing her hands over her face. She looked absolutely drained.

“I didn’t go,” Steve admitted. “I was still hoping you’d join me, but you don’t really seem up for it.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just a little tired,” Celia mumbled through a yawn. “You can come up and make a sandwich or something if you want.” Celia walked back to the building, waving her arm behind her to signal Steve to follow. He trailed behind her, hiding a smile when she went straight to the stairs instead of the elevator. She bounded up the stairs faster than he expected with her fatigue, but kept up easily. Celia led him to a door on the third floor and ushered him into one of the barest apartments he had seen since his youth. There were the normal things, a couch, a tv, tables and lamps, but absolutely nothing personal he could see. No pictures on the wall, no knick knacks on any shelves. It looked straight out of a catalog, like anyone could breeze in and out. Celia dropped her bag onto the coffee table, continuing further into the apartment toward the kitchen. He followed her, standing awkwardly in the doorway. The kitchen was just as stripped down as the living room. Nothing was out of place and there wasn’t anything extra. Even the towels were a stark, plain white.

“Did you just move in?” Steve blurted out, not able to hold back any longer. Celia shook her head and went back to pulling out a glass from the cupboard. 

“I don’t have a lot of options, but I have the stuff for a sandwich,” she offered, filling the glass from the tap and holding it out toward him. He took it with a grateful nod, taking a small sip as he glanced around the room a little more. He thought he kept his floor basic, but even he had a few personal touches here and there.

“Actually, I’m not that hungry,” Steve said, wincing when Celia quirked an eyebrow at him. Why was he being so weird? He hid behind the glass, taking a long drink. Celia was staring at him, her arms folded over her chest.

“Why did you come with me, Steve?” Celia asked, apparently done with this strange tension that had somehow built up. “Are you here to keep an eye on me so I don’t disappear? I’m not planning on going anywhere, so that isn’t necessary.”

“No, it’s not anything like that,” Steve denied, rolling the almost empty glass between his hands. “I know how I felt after my… change, how scary it was, especially without Dr. Erskine around to answer any questions, and I guess I just wanted to be here in case you needed something. It’s my fault you’re in this situation to begin with, so I want to do anything I can to help.” He kept his gaze focused on his hands, not used to admitting weakness. Bucky was the only person he talked to about how he felt after he got the serum, not wanting anyone else to see the super soldier as anything but the strong beacon of hope he was created to be. But in the quiet moments with Bucky, he could let his guard down and be honest about the fear he felt going in and the fear after, that he would be a disappointment. Steve heard Celia sigh and he glanced up with a grimace, hoping he hadn’t offended her by insinuating she wouldn’t be able to handle this on her own. She was still staring at him, this time with a small smile.

“I appreciate your concern and there is something you can do for me,” Celia said, walking over and placing her hand over his, stopping him from spinning the glass.

“Anything,” he agreed quickly, setting the glass down on the small table next to him.

“Try to stop blaming yourself for what happened,” Celia said, folding her arms again. He sagged a little, shaking his head. “I know it’s easier said than done. Heaven knows I can guilt myself for every terrible thing to happen in the world, but I know it’s not healthy so I actively try not to put everything on my shoulders.”

“I should have been able to stop him, before it got that far,” Steve argued, balling up his fists. He was suddenly glad he had set down the glass, instead of shattering it in his anger.

“Well, if you’re gonna feel guilty for me getting hurt, then I’m gonna feel guilty for making you upset. So now neither of us are happy,” Celia said with a shrug. “I can be very stubborn, so I guess you’ll have to get past this for the both of us.” Steve blew out a breathy chuckle, recognizing Celia’s attempt at lightening the mood and appreciating the effort. She let out another big yawn, rubbing at her eyes.

“I should let you get some sleep,” Steve said, backing out of the kitchen and into the living room. Celia followed him, sinking tiredly onto the couch and leaning her head back.

“I’ll call you,” Celia murmured, closing her eyes. Steve glanced back one last time before he closed the door with a quiet snick, sighing in resignation. No matter what she said and what he promised, he couldn’t accept that this whole situation wasn’t his fault. He had to be better than this. If people around him kept dying or getting hurt, what was he even doing? He was made to save the world and if he couldn’t, the Avengers might need to find a new leader. 

Steve looked around the hallway, trying to figure out his next moves. He didn’t really feel like going back to the tower, even though it would be smart to rest to give the serum a chance to heal up his wound. But going home meant leaving Celia alone and he still didn’t want to do that. Steve wanted to believe she would call if she needed anything, but he also knew she was stubborn, she had said it herself. He shook his head, a rueful smile on his face. Celia did remind him of Peggy a bit, headstrong and not willing to back down from a fight. They both also had a softer side, dedicating their lives to helping other people. Maybe that was why he felt so drawn to Celia, besides the guilt. She just seemed like someone he would enjoy knowing, and that wasn’t so easy to find in this time. There were a lot of things about this time that were better than his, health and technology and social acceptance, but connecting to people on a personal level seemed impossible now. You couldn’t just chat up someone on the street without the other person thinking you had some sort of agenda. But Celia and him had been able to have somewhat of a conversation, before it all went to shit. Sure, it was a little awkward, but it was more comfortable than he had with anyone outside of the Avengers bubble. He found he really didn’t want the possibility of a friendship to pass him by.  
Steve sighed, making his way slowly back to the staircase down the hall. He stopped short when he heard a quiet noise that sounded like a gasp. Steve paused, letting his super senses do their thing and block out the ambient noise, focusing on the sound of distress he was sure he heard. He heard it again, a low moan and sharp inhale. A small surge of panic had him bursting back through Celia’s door, unconsciously glad she hadn’t gotten up to lock it behind him. They really didn’t need the audience a broken down door would bring. Celia was sitting on her couch where he had left her, rubbing at her right elbow. Her head was thrown back and resting on the top of the couch, a grimace on her face. He hovered in front of her, not sure what to do. Would touching her make things worse? Did she even realize he was in the room?

“Celia?” he whispered, tentatively reaching out to touch her knee. Her eyes snapped open, staring at him with a startled gaze. Steve patted the air in front of them in a calming gesture, kneeling down to be level with her. Celia slowly came back to herself, evening out her breathing and relaxing partially into the cushions of the couch.

“What just happened?” he asked, looking down at the elbow she had just been rubbing. There was obviously nothing there now, but he hadn’t noticed anything there before he left either.

“I fell asleep.”


	15. Chapter 15

“I fell asleep,” Celia mumbled, closing her eyes again in resignation. She had finally succumbed to sleep, only to be jolted awake what seemed to be moments after, feeling a burning, stinging sensation in her right elbow area. The rest of her body seemed to hum with a tingling feeling too, but the pain was more focused on her arm. She tried to hold in her sounds of discomfort, but she must not have done a good enough job, if Steve’s presence was anything to go by. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” Steve asked, not accusingly, but out of concern.

“I wasn’t, I mean, I didn’t think I was,” Celia stammered, rubbing at her eyes. She was sure she didn’t have any more wounds after she fell asleep the last time. She had systematically checked her entire body after she got back from the tower the second time and there was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Maybe you should come back to the tower with me, let Bruce take another look at you?” Steve suggested, leaning back on his heels.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Steve repeated, looking mildly surprised. “I didn’t think you’d agree so easily.”

“I was always planning on going back. I just had to make sure my friend was situated.” Celia scrubbed her hands over her face, trying to wipe away the last remnants of her failed attempt to get some sleep. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t pulled an all nighter before, but this was different. Both times she had tried to fall asleep since the incident, she had awoken immediately after in pain. Would she ever be able to sleep again? If the serum made it unnecessary, why was she still so tired?

“Do you still sleep?” Celia asked, pulling herself to her feet. Steve hovered in front of her, like he was expecting her to drop at any moment. He relaxed when she moved over to the dresser on her own volition.

“Yeah, I still sleep. I don’t really need as much as I used to, but I try to get at least six hours,” Steve answered, still watching her closely. Celia rummaged around in a drawer, looking for something with long sleeves. The weather was turning gloomy, matching her mood, and running around in a tshirt didn’t seem like a good idea anymore.

“Maybe you should pack a bag?” Steve suggested, stepping forward to stand next to her. “Bruce might figure out a way for you to get some sleep and you’ll want to be comfortable, right?” He pursed his lips, looking like he wanted to say more, but wasn’t sure how. Celia considered his suggestion, wondering if this would be the last time she’d be able to come back to her apartment at all. She didn’t think Steve was trying to trick her and was planning to take her straight to Shield to be locked up for good, but what if Bruce found something that proved she was a danger? Celia could admit that she was nervous and the lack of sleep was making her paranoid. She contemplated her chances if she tried to disappear. She had done it before, but that was without a group of superheroes knowing of her existence. Tony Stark didn’t seem like the type of person to give up and hiding for the rest of her life did not seem like something she would enjoy. Although, if she didn’t find a way to get some sleep soon, she didn’t think she’d last too long anyway. 

“What does one pack for a sleep study at Stark Tower?” Celia mused, falling back on her old standby of using humor to cover up her nerves. She grabbed a gym bag that was resting on the side of the dresser, dumping the contents out on the floor by her feet. She suppressed a smile at Steve’s startle when a sports bra nearly landed on his boot. 

“Uh um, just the usual I guess,” Steve stammered, resolutely avoiding looking at any undergarments falling out or going into the bag. “Maybe pack for a few days, just in case.”

“In case what?” Celia probed casually, hoping a little bit of info would slip through a flustered Steve’s lips.

“In case you wanted to stay at the tower for a few days, at least until we get a handle on this thing.”

“I don’t think Tony would be too happy to hear I was planning an extended visit to his tower. He might not want to throw me to the wolves anymore, but I don’t think we’re at the long sleepover stage yet.”

“He was actually the one who suggested it.” 

Celia spluttered at Steve’s words, not thinking he would outright lie to her, but not quite believing what he was saying either. Was this a trick? Tony’s way of lulling her into a false sense of security so they could get her back into the clutches of Shield? It seemed like a strange, roundabout way to do it, when he had her trapped in the tower earlier that day. And she didn’t think Steve would go along with it, unless he didn’t know the true plan. That wouldn’t surprise her, with the lack of communication she had seen within the group already. But what other choice did she have? If she said no, they could easily swoop in and grab her when she least expected it. This way, she could go in with her eyes wide open.

“Well then, how could I say no?” Celia quipped, shoving a few of each article of clothing into her bag. It didn’t really matter what she grabbed, it was all the same. All of the shirts she had at her apartment were white and came in a package. Same with the bottoms, only in black. She had extra clothes for more specific occasions in her storage container, but her everyday clothes were cheap, easy to clean, and well worn. Celia refused to spend any unnecessary money on clothes, saving every penny she could for more important things.

“I’m sure Bruce will be able to get a handle on this sleep thing, and then we can figure things out from there,” Steve assured, stepping back so she could grab a few things from the bathroom. She chuckled self-deprecatingly under her breath as she packed her cheap toiletries into her bag. Tony Stark’s body wash probably cost the same as her rent for the month, and here she was, bringing her drug store brand junk. It didn’t bother her in her normal life. If the cheap stuff worked, why waste money when you don’t need to? But going into the lap of luxury known as Stark Tower just highlighted how much her life had changed in such a short time.

“That’s it I guess,” Celia said with a shrug, coming back out into the living room to meet Steve. He still looked nervous, but she didn’t know what it was about this time. He was getting what he wanted, her back at the tower. Was he hiding something? Had she been suckered by his big blue eyes? Steve hadn’t lied to her yet, that she could tell, so maybe this was just his natural state. He had seemed a bit more timid than she had imagined Captain America to be when they first met, so maybe he was just kind of awkward in general?

“Ready?” Steve asked, shifting his weight a little. Celia cocked her head to the side, deciding whether or not she should let it go or just come out and ask him what seemed to be gnawing at his nerves. She might as well get as many cards out on the table as she could, while they were on her turf.

“Is everything okay?” Celia asked, watching his body language closely. She was usually good at reading people and Steve didn’t look like he had any kind of poker face. “If there’s something you know and you’re not telling me, you might as well come out with it. Did Bruce find out I’m going to spontaneously combust in the next 24 hours? Or that I’m going to turn into a big green monster? Cause I gotta say, green isn’t really my color.” Steve chuckled a little, looking a little more at ease after her joking.

“No, nothing like that. And I’m sure you look great in green,” Steve admitted. Celia could feel her cheeks heating up a little, the charming bastard. “Tony wanted me to bring up something, but I didn’t know how. I don’t want to overwhelm you, but Tony felt it would be best coming from me, since we’re kind of friends, right?”

“Sure. I mean, you’ve seen me in a bra.” Celia smirked at the blush covering Steve’s cheeks. Payback is a bitch. “Just tell me. If I don’t like it, I’ll just blame Tony.”

“Tony was thinking it might be best for you to move into the tower on a more permanent basis, at least until we get all this sorted out,” Steve blurted out, giving her a wide eyed, innocent look.

“Move in.”

“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s a good idea too. We can keep you safe, just in case and you’ll be closer to Bruce in case anything goes wrong, but I’m sure it won’t!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. A couple days is one thing, while Bruce helps me with the sleep issue, but permanently? And what do you mean by sorted out?”

Steve paused, choosing his words carefully. Celia had not been expecting an invite to move in from Tony. She had been bracing herself for something much worse, like Shield waiting at the door for her.

“Nothing like this has really happened before, at least that I know of. We don’t know much about the man who is responsible for this or if he has associates we need to worry about. I just think it would be best for everyone if you just stayed close for a while, until we had more answers. Despite what you’ve seen so far, Tony really is a gracious host.”

Celia pondered Steve’s words, trying to weigh the pros and cons in her sleep starved brain. She could understand them wanting her around while they figured everything out. They definitely didn’t want her to fall in the wrong hands and use her to duplicate what was done. But offering a stranger to move into your tower just wasn’t a normal thing to do. Or maybe it was, she had never known anyone with their own tower. But it still didn’t sit right with her. She liked having her own space, she needed it after all she had been through. Celia promised herself a long time ago that she would never let herself be vulnerable again. She would always make her own money and have a plan to disappear if needed. If she moved into the tower, she would be giving away a lot of her power. Would this door be one way only, once she was in, she wouldn’t leave? Could Tony lock her in a room and never let her out? She knew he had the means, after that Jiffy Pop fiasco, but he hadn’t done it any time he had the chance. There was too much going on and too much to think about for Celia to be able to give Steve the answer he wanted.

“I can’t agree to that right now,” she said, avoiding looking at Steve’s crestfallen face. “I’ll still come with you, but I can’t make any decisions like that right now. I need to focus on one issue at a time and right now, my number one issue is sleep. After that, we can discuss the future.” Steve nodded, accepting her answer. Celia sighed, looking around one last time at her apartment. There wasn’t anything else she really wanted to grab, even if she never made it back. Anything she really cared about was kept in her storage unit and even then, the list was short. She had learned long ago to not form attachments to material things, it was just one more thing people could use to hurt you.

“Will you let me carry your bag this time?” Steve asked, holding out his uninjured arm. Celia rolled her eyes, walking over and opening the door. 

“No way.”


	16. Chapter 16

The ride back to the tower was mostly made in silence, with Celia staring blankly out her window. Steve shot a quick text to Bruce, alerting him to their impending arrival to the tower and giving him a brief rundown of the situation. Bruce responded with orders to meet him in his lab, that he had a few ideas he wanted to test out. Steve sighed, leaning back and looking out his own window. He was glad the cab driver wasn’t one of the more chatty ones. Small talk was kind of hard when you were worried about referencing something that hadn’t existed for decades.

Relief and worry were warring in his brain. He was glad that Celia had agreed to come back to the tower with him, no matter how long she planned to, but he was worried about her inability to sleep. Steve had seen his need for less sleep as a good side effect of the serum, helping him during long battles. Sure, it could get a little boring when everyone else was asleep and he was wide awake and alone, but he found ways to occupy himself pretty easily, especially now when he had so much to catch up on. But the idea of never sleeping again was terrifying. It was such an important part of life that the idea of it suddenly going away was inconceivable. He was impressed Celia was keeping it together as well as she had been.

Steve heard Celia stifle a yawn, rubbing her fists into her eyes. He winced in sympathy, feeling awkward again. He wanted to do something to try to comfort her, but he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t really hug her in this position, even though it seemed to help her before. Throwing caution to the wind, he unclipped his seatbelt and scooted into the middle seat, securing himself next to Celia. He hesitantly slid his arm over her shoulders, pulling her to rest against his side. She tensed up a bit at first, before relaxing into his grip, resting her head on his shoulder.

“You’re gonna make me fall asleep,” Celia murmured, burrowing deeper into his side with a sigh. Steve rubbed his hand up and down her arm, keeping watch to make sure her heavy blinks didn’t become too sluggish. He wanted to give her a chance to rest, but couldn’t risk her jolting awake in front of the cabbie.

“Almost there,” he soothed, glaring at the typical New York traffic that was in front of them. He could’ve run with Celia on his back to the tower faster than the cab was getting them there, but he didn’t think anyone would enjoy that stunt. They finally pulled up to the tower, Celia stretching and rolling her neck while Steve grabbed her bag out of the trunk. He gestured toward the tower, leading the way to the door when Celia’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“Wait.”

“I think I can handle carrying your bag this time,” Steve chuckled, holding it from her reach. She wasn’t grabbing for it though, wringing her hands and staring at the ground instead.

“It’s not that,” Celia sighed, walking over to the outside of the building, out of the way of pedestrians. Steve hesitantly followed, worried Celia had changed her mind about staying in the tower. “I wanted to say something before we went in, while we still have a moment alone.”

“Okay, sure.”

“I wanted to say thank you.”

“Thank you? For what?”

“You didn’t have to be so nice to me or stand up for me against your team when I was being so secretive. I appreciate everything you’ve done and want you to know that whatever happens, I don’t blame you.”

Steve glanced away, hoping to hide the guilt in his eyes that was still eating away at him. He took every failure so hard because he was supposed to be better than that. Captain America wasn’t meant to make mistakes, but that didn’t stop Steve Rogers from making them.

“And I don’t want you to feel like you’re obligated to stick around me-”

“I’m not! I mean, I don’t. I don’t feel obligated to stay with you, I just want to. Before everything happened, I was having a nice time talking to you. You didn’t treat me differently like most people do, even though you knew who I was. Even if all this hadn’t happened, I would’ve liked to get to know you.”

“Me too,” Celia said quietly, looking up at him with a small smile. He returned it, reaching a hand out for her to take. She grabbed it and he gave her hand a quick squeeze, pulling her through the doors. They walked through the lobby to the private elevator, dodging the bustle of the people flitting about. Jarvis had the doors open and waiting for them, Celia’s steps only faltering slightly as they entered the elevator.

“Bruce’s lab please, Jarvis,” Steve commanded. He looked down at their still joined hands, feeling less awkward than he thought he would. Holding hands with a friend wasn’t weird, was it? The elevator suddenly started slowing sooner than it should, making Steve glance around in confusion. “Jarvis?” The elevator came to a stop, the doors opening to reveal a smug looking Tony Stark.

“Back so soon?” he quipped, stepping onto the elevator with them. He strode into the middle of the car, breaking Steve and Celia apart. Steve rolled his eyes at Tony’s behavior.

“We were just on our way to see Bruce, so if you don’t mind-”

“All in good time Cap,” Tony said, cutting him off. He turned to face Celia, ever present tablet in his hand. “I still haven’t decided what floor to put you on, but I drew up some early blueprints of what we could do to some existing floors.”

“What are you talking about?” Celia asked, staring at Tony in bewilderment. Steve grimaced, avoiding making eye contact with either of them. He hadn’t brought up Tony’s idea of a personal floor for Celia because he didn’t want to overwhelm her. That was something to ease her into once she considered the option of moving in permanently. But leave it to Tony to come in guns blazing.

“Our dear Captain was supposed to have gone over this with you. I assumed the fact that you came back so willingly was a sign he had and you agreed with the idea. Clearly, I am mistaken,” Tony muttered, turning to face Steve in the small car. Steve opened his mouth to defend himself when Celia cut in.

“Can we deal with this another time please?” Celia proposed, leaning against the side of the elevator before jerking back up and eyeing it warily. It didn’t seem like she was going to forget about what Jarvis could do anytime soon. “If we can figure out a way for me to sleep, I’ll sleep anywhere.”

“So that’s why you’re meeting with Bruce,” Tony noted with a nod. “Continue on Jarvis.” The elevator slowly started to rise again, Tony looking between Steve and Celia with a calculating look on his face. Steve kept his face neutral, not in the mood for whatever Tony was thinking about doing. Celia stood to the side, careful to not let any part of her body touch the walls of the car. The doors opened again to the floor of Bruce’s lab and Steve and Celia stepped out, leaving Tony behind. Celia stopped the doors from closing and turned back toward Tony.

“I just wanted to thank you for offering a place to stay. I know you didn’t have to do that and it really means a lot,” Celia said sincerely.

“Yeah, well. I have the room, so it isn’t that big of a deal. And I need Cap on his A game at all times, so he can’t be worried about you being so far away,” Tony brushed off, in his own special way of saying you’re welcome. “My floor Jarvis.” Celia stepped back, letting the doors close and take Tony away.

“My own floor huh?” Celia questioned, spinning to face him. Steve smiled guiltily, gripping the handle of her bag tightly.

“I didn’t want to overwhelm you, with everything else. I’m still getting used to having my own floor to be honest. I’m sorry, I don’t want you to think I’m trying to hide anything from you,” Steve apologized, hoping he didn’t ruin their budding friendship.

“I understand,” Celia sighed, walking over to put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure the whole thing was kind of thrust on you anyways. Just tell me next time, okay? I’d rather hear it from you than from Tony.” Steve nodded, relieved she wasn’t angry at him. They entered Bruce’s lab together, side by side, Bruce sitting at a table making notes.

“Hey Bruce,” Steve greeted, setting Celia’s bag on a stool near the door. Bruce waved them over, jotting a few more things down before turning to face them.

“Hey guys, glad you’re back. Although, I wish the circumstances were better,” Bruce said, gesturing for them to sit on a couch he had in the back of the room. “I have some stuff set up back here for an experiment I want to run, if that’s alright.”

“Any knives involved this time?” Celia asked, sinking gratefully into the soft cushions.

“It was a scalpel and no,” Bruce answered with a chuckle. Steve glanced between the two of them, startled by where the conversation had led.

“You cut her?” Steve questioned, turning shocked eyes to the normally placid scientist. Bruce put his hands up defensively, backing up a step.

“It was for an experiment Steve, it’s all good,” Celia laughed, rolling her eyes. “I gave the okay.” Steve forced himself to relax a little, suppressing his overwhelming urge to protect Celia from harm. He knew he could trust Bruce, that he wouldn’t do anything to be cruel or hurt her, but it was still Steve’s fault Celia was down here. Any pain she felt due to this change would be his fault.

“So what is this experiment exactly?” Steve asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Bruce walked over to his desk to grab a clipboard and rolled back on a stool, gliding to a stop in front of Celia on the couch.

“I have a few questions I want to ask first, to get a clearer idea of the details,” Bruce said, glancing back at him as he stood alone, closed off from the others. Steve made no move to sit down.

“Give us a minute,” Celia said, pulling herself up off the couch and dragging him by the arm to another corner of the lab. Steve shrugged off her hand, facing the wall. He didn’t know why he was acting like this, but it was like everything was hitting him at once. What if this couldn’t be fixed and Celia was on her way to a slow, exhaustion induced death? He couldn’t stand the idea of watching her wither away before his eyes.

“Steve, you’re stressing everyone out. What is going on?” Celia asked, stepping around to face him again. “I thought you were going to try to stop beating yourself up over this.”

“I can’t, you know it’s not that simple.”

“This is just making things worse!”

“And then you just joke about it.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“You’re supposed to be mad at me!” Steve yelled, not able to hold back any longer. Celia flinched back a little, surprised by his outburst. He heard Bruce stand up from his stool, but Celia held up her hand, signaling for him to stay back.

“Why am I supposed to be mad?” Celia asked calmly, making him feel even worse.

“It’s my fault, no matter how many times you say it’s not. And not being mad at me makes me feel more guilty! You should hate me! You should yell at me! But staying calm like this, it’s not realistic. It’s like you’re suppressing your feelings for my sake and I don’t deserve it.”

“I-”

“I’m Captain America and I can’t even save one person.”


	17. Chapter 17

“I’m Captain America and I can’t even save one person,” Steve whispered brokenly, pleading with her with his eyes. Celia felt stricken by the pain in his voice. She couldn’t wrap her head around how hard he was taking this. Sure, it sucked, but she was still alive. He didn’t even know her well enough to really mourn her if she had died. 

The death toll of The Battle of New York hadn’t been super high, but there had still been casualties. Steve didn’t seem to be carrying that weight on his shoulders, unless this incident just tipped the scales. He had to have lost people during the war too, and for him, it was just months ago that he was fighting on the front lines. PTSD was pretty much a given for someone who had lived his life, but would she really be a trigger?

Celia thought back through everything he had said to her. How he should’ve been able to stop the man, how he should’ve been able to protect her. One thing stuck out the most: he couldn’t even save one person. Steve had saved countless people as Captain America, but this statement was more specific. This wasn’t even about her at all, was it?

“Who is this really about, Steve?” she asked gently, watching him close his eyes in defeat. 

“I can’t,” Steve said, turning his face from hers.

“Let me tell you a story that I don’t tell anyone and don’t plan on telling again,” Celia started, waiting for Steve to acknowledge her. When he kept looking away, she gently turned his face toward her, leaving her hand on his cheek until he made eye contact. “The first woman I tried to save once I joined my group died.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Her husband came home while we were getting her out and went crazy. I woke up two days later missing a few inches off my small intestine and she was in the morgue. I was so angry with myself and the guilt was so overwhelming that I wanted to quit. I thought I would do more harm than good but my friend Deb convinced me not to. She told me that we can’t help everyone, but not even trying was worse than failing. So I learned from my mistakes and kept going and I helped people.”

“It’s not that easy. I was made to be the perfect soldier,” Steve argued. And Celia thought she was stubborn.

“There’s no such thing as perfect, Steve! You just do your best and keep going. Would the person you lost want you to beat yourself up for the rest of your life?” Celia asked, needing to break through Steve’s walls.

“Hell no, he’d kick my ass,” Steve said with a quiet snort.

“So use that to keep going. You can’t change the past, no matter how many times you run through everything in your head, thinking about all the things you could’ve done differently. I know because I’ve been there. And you know what else I know? I’m gonna survive this. You think I’m gonna let a little insomnia take me down?”

“No.”

“Damn right, no! So screw your guilt, I don’t need it. I need you to be strong for me, in case I forget how strong I am.” Steve chuckled a little, a bit more tension leaking from his shoulders.

“What are you, a motivational speaker?” Steve joked, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“No, I’m way too aggressive for that. But I know Steve Rogers can handle it.”

“You mean Captain America.”

“I don’t care about Captain America. I care about Steve. You don’t have to be anyone else but yourself with me.”

“I don’t know if this world needs Steve Rogers, but I know it needs Captain America,” Steve said mournfully, lowering his gaze to the floor. Celia wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him in a tight hug just as he had done in the bathroom the day before. Steve hesitantly put his arms around her waist. She rested her head next to his ear, keeping her next words for him only.

“Take it from someone who had no choice but to change themselves. Don’t let anyone change you from who you really are. Holly Williams didn’t have a chance, but Steve Rogers does.” They stood there like that for a few moments, just holding each other, until Celia finally pulled away. Steve had a small, grateful smile on his face and she smiled back. She hadn’t told anyone her birth name since she changed it, but here she was, telling an almost stranger.

“Thank you,” Steve whispered.

“You’re welcome. Now, let’s stop ignoring Bruce and get down to business,” Celia said, dragging him back to the couch and pulling him to sit down on the cushion next to her. Bruce turned from where he had been pretending to keep busy and slid back over in front of them.

“Sorry Bruce,” Steve apologized, looking away embarrassed.

“No worries Steve,” Bruce brushed off, readying his clipboard again. “I want to get a clearer picture of what happened, such as the timeline and details on what you felt. Let’s start at the beginning. Celia told me that she didn’t know how long it was between the moment she died and then woke up. Do you remember, Steve?” Steve furrowed his brow, thinking back to the moment in the elevator. Celia was grimacing at the thought of talking about all this again, but she’d do just about anything at this point if it meant she got some sleep.

“It all happened very fast. I’m not sure if she was even alive when the shocking started or if her heart had already stopped. But it wasn’t more than a minute from the point of the shooting to Celia waking back up,” Steve answered, pursing his lips and shaking his head a little. This was still hitting him hard, but he didn’t have the look of overwhelming guilt he had been sporting most of the time she had been around him.

“I was still alive to feel the jolt. And to feel you try to stop the bleeding,” Celia told Steve quietly, reliving the pain of her broken chest.

“So less than a minute,” Bruce cut in, not allowing either of them to wallow too long in feelings of the past. “And the two other times this happened, you were alone?”

“Yeah, my roommate was asleep the first time. The second time Steve left before I fell asleep, but came back when he heard me wake up. I don’t know how long that was.”

“It was about five minutes between when I left and when I heard her.”

“What were you doing outside my door for that long?” Celia asked, raising her eyebrow a bit. Steve squirmed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I was worried!” he blurted out, throwing up his hands in exasperation. “Which I’m glad I did, because I doubt you would have called me.”

“That’s not fair, you didn’t even give me a chance!” Celia laughed.

“Notice you didn’t say it wasn’t true,” Steve shot back with a sly grin.

“I would’ve called eventually,” Celia scoffed, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.

“So I’d say it’s safe to assume you woke pretty quickly after you fell asleep both times,” Bruce said, ending their banter. “What did it feel like those times?”

“The first time was the cut and it burned, kind of like when you clean a wound out with alcohol. And then it lulled into more of an itch, before the pain went away. The second time I didn’t have any kind of injury, but I felt a little more pain in my right arm. The rest of my body felt weird, like a cross between your leg cramping and falling asleep.”

“And you’re sure you weren’t hurt before you fell asleep?” Bruce asked, writing everything down.

“After I got home from the tower last night, I checked every inch of my body. Nothing else happened between then and falling asleep earlier today.”

“I didn’t see anything on her arm before I left, and that’s what seemed to be bothering her the most,” Steve added. Bruce nodded, writing a few more things down and mumbling to himself.

“What did you do today, besides the time you were here at the tower?” Bruce questioned.

“I packed up my friend’s stuff and helped her move out. Just a lot of walking and carrying,” Celia answered, racking her brain for any moment she had hurt herself, but coming up with nothing. How often do you remember every bump and scrape you get during a normal day?

“Would you say you carry most things on your right side?” Bruce asked, setting down his clipboard.

“Uh, I don’t know. I guess,” Celia said confused. Bruce nodded, working something out in his head. “Did you figure it out?”

“I have a theory, but we’ll have to test it to see if I’m right.”

“I’m all ears,” Celia prodded, hoping to hear some good news. Come on easy fix.

“You feeling pain when a wound is healing over makes sense, but this last time, you didn’t see one but still felt more localized pain in your arm. It makes sense if you happened to strain the muscle while moving boxes, but it doesn’t account for the pain you felt in the rest of your body. I think I figured that part out though.”

“What is it?” Steve asked, leaning forward intently.

“Any type of movement you do during the day works your muscles. Think how you feel sore after a workout. But even doing normal everyday things, such as walking, works your muscles too. Not to the same extent and nothing you’d really notice at the end of the day. But the muscles are still being affected, at a cellular level. So even if you don’t feel pain from, say, walking up the stairs, your muscles are still being changed.” Steve was about to cut in, but Celia stopped him with a hand wave. “I think, at the end of every day when you fall asleep, your healing ability will kick in and you’ll wake up.” 

Celia felt the blood drain from her face, but she forced her body to take slow, even breaths. She could not allow herself to panic. Not after finally getting Steve to calm his guilt. Falling asleep would always equal pain for her. What could she do about it? Just lay still for the rest of her life and never move again? That didn’t seem like much of a life, even if it did mean she could sleep.

“Celia,” Bruce called, snapping her back to the present. “Let me finish, okay? Don’t panic.” She jerked her head in a nod, focusing back on Bruce. Steve grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze.

“Go ahead,” she said, bracing herself.

“While I don’t think there is a way to get around you healing from the wear and tear of the day, I do think you’ll be able to sleep. Have you tried going back to sleep after either of the last two times you woke up and healed?”

“No, the first time I came straight to the tower. The last time was the same, just with Steve.”

“What I’m thinking is, after you’ve woken up and healed the first time, you’re obviously perfectly healthy, right? So what happens if you go right back to sleep? There is nothing left to heal, so you should be able to keep right on sleeping,” Bruce explained with a smile.

“Holy shit, you might be right!” Celia exclaimed. “If healing is the only thing waking me up and causing me pain, that makes perfect sense.” She sprang up and wrapped Bruce in a tight hug, unable to stop herself. He patted her awkwardly on the back.

“We still don’t know if I’m right,” Bruce said cautiously. Celia let him go and stepped back, a wide smile splitting her face.

“You gave me hope, which is more than I had before. So what do you want me to do?” Celia asked, ready to test out the theory.

“I have the equipment here to do a little sleep study. I’m not sure if you’ve ever done one, but it will monitor your brain functions while you sleep. I’m hoping it’ll give me a clearer idea of what’s going on in there,” Bruce explained, gesturing to a table covered in cables and wires.

“Sounds harmless enough,” Celia agreed.

“There is one other thing though,” Bruce said, a faint flush covering his cheeks. She glanced down at the slightly shorter man, wondering what caused him to be suddenly flustered. “For the most accurate testing of the theory, we need to make sure you don’t have any type of injury on your body.”

“So you want me to get naked?” Celia asked. Steve spluttered on the couch behind her, coughing to clear his suddenly tight throat.

“Not all the way naked,” Bruce said with a wince.

“You’re not that kind of doctor!” Steve blurted out, bouncing up to stand with them.

“Funny, that argument never works when I’m the one making it!” Bruce shot back annoyed.

“This is a bit different!”

“Guys-”

“I already felt weird suggesting it, you don’t have to make me feel worse.”

“Maybe you had that feeling for a reason.”

Celia looked back and forth between the arguing men, being completely ignored. She did the only thing she could think of to get their attention and slipped out of her shirt. They both looked away quickly, Steve letting out a little squawk.

“Now that I have your attention,” Celia smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You’ve got to stop doing that,” Steve groaned, covering his eyes with his hand.

“I appreciate you standing up for me Steve, but it’s unnecessary. It’s my decision and I’m saying it’s okay. Anything covered by underwear I can handle myself,” Celia stated, leaving no room for argument. She was still willing to do anything to get the chance to sleep. Steve sagged, looking fully chastised. 

“I’m sorry, I just…,” Steve mumbled, still looking anywhere else but at her.

“You’re a gentleman, I get it. Thank you Steve,” Celia said, smiling at his blush. “How do we want to do this?”

“If you don’t mind standing over here, where the lighting is a bit better,” Bruce directed, leading her over toward a light fixture. Steve stayed where he was, facing away from them. Celia stepped out of her pants, thanking her luck that she preferred to wear a boy short underwear instead of a skimpier cut. No matter how much she tried to downplay it, this was pretty awkward.

“So Steve,” Celia started, signaling for Bruce to do his exam while she talked, “how is your shoulder doing?”

“It’s not too bad. The stitches can probably come out tomorrow,” Steve answered, still facing away as he spoke.

“That’s great. You didn’t strain it from carrying my bag earlier?”

“Of course not,” Steve scoffed, crossing his arms in indignation. “I could’ve carried your stuff earlier too, if you weren’t so stubborn.”

“I don’t know. I heal better than you, maybe I’ll get stronger than you as well,” Celia said, laughing at Steve's small noise of protest. Bruce gave her the okay and she darted behind a big whiteboard to check the rest of her body.

“Let’s see you hold up a woman on a motorcycle!” Steve shot back. Celia giggled to herself as she finished up and redressed. Steve was apparently very easy to distract in an uncomfortable situation.

“That doesn’t sound very impressive,” Celia exaggeratedly brushed off. 

“It was the highlight of the show! Right after punching Hitler,” Steve exclaimed, forgetting momentarily about the situation and spinning around. Celia and Bruce were standing together in front of a table, stifling their laughter.

“Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Celia asked, chuckling at the realization on Steve’s face. She walked over and sat back down on the couch with a yawn, the exhaustion catching back up with her after the emotional rollercoaster they had just been on. “What’s the next step?”

“Now we put the theory to the test and do our sleep study,” Bruce said, picking up a strange little helmet covered in wires. “I want to see your brain waves while you sleep and heal, to pinpoint when in your sleep cycle the healing is triggered. Jarvis will monitor your other vitals.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Celia said, trying to stamp down her nerves. She hoped Bruce’s theory was right. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could last without losing her mind. But the idea of waking up and healing wasn’t really appealing either. 

“It’s not too uncomfortable to wear. So we can either do it here or see if Tony has some guest rooms available,” Bruce proposed, leaning against the table.

“She can use my room.”


	18. Chapter 18

Both sets of eyes swiveled to meet his. A slow smile grew on Celia’s face and he saw the beginning of a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

“Trying to get me in your bed already, eh Rogers?” Celia quipped, laughing at his heated cheeks. He sputtered a little, looking for the right words to cover his gaff. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t want to put you out. This couch is fine.”

“It does actually make more sense to put you in a bed somewhere, especially if we’re right and you can fall back to sleep. You’ll be much more comfortable,” Bruce noted, scooping up the machine to set on a rolling cart. “Jarvis, are there any available guest rooms in the tower?”

“There are two rooms available on Mr. Stark’s personal floor and one on Ms. Romanoff’s, but she is not here to consent to its use. The other floors are still undergoing construction and uninhabitable,” Jarvis answered. 

“You want to ask Tony?” Steve asked with a smirk, happy he could get back at Celia a little. He wasn’t going to admit he enjoyed her good-natured teasing, he had an image to uphold. Celia groaned and put her head in her hands.

“This giant tower and those are my options,” she muttered, standing up and stretching her arms over her head. Steve looked away so he wouldn’t be tempted to look at the little bit of skin that peeked out under her shirt. “You win this round Steve.”

Bruce finished loading the cart with all the equipment and started rolling it to the door. Steve quickly scooped up Celia’s bag before she could, smiling brightly at her glare as she walked through the door he held open. Bruce was entering the elevator by the time they got there, sliding the cart into the back corner. Celia eyed the car as she stepped on, standing in the center away from the sides.

“I’m only a few floors up,” Steve assured her as Jarvis quickly took them up to his floor. The elevator opened up to a spacious living room area, with floor to ceiling windows along the outer walls, revealing a breathtaking view of the city. There was a kitchen and small dining area to the right and a hallway with private bedrooms and bathrooms on the left. Most of the rooms were still empty, only his bedroom being used full time at this point. Tony told him he could do whatever he wanted with them, but he still didn’t feel comfortable changing things around too much. All he really needed was a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen, anything else was unnecessary. But it was still a sight more personalized than Celia’s apartment seemed to be.

“Wow,” Celia breathed out, stepping off the elevator and walking toward the windows. “This is amazing.”

“I’m gonna go get things set up,” Bruce said, heading toward the bedroom. Steve nodded in acknowledgment, going over to stand next to Celia who was looking at the view in awe. He couldn’t blame her, it still took his breath away at times. He had been meaning to seek out some art supplies to draw it, but never got around to it.

“I know,” Steve agreed, staring out at the lights of the city. It was nice right now, but when the sky got dark and all the lights came on, it was truly breathtaking. They stood together in silence, taking everything in. Everyone else seemed so desensitized to things, because it was old hat for them. But for Steve, so many things were like stepping into Oz for Dorothy and seeing color.

“How do you get used to a view like this?” Celia asked after a few minutes.

“I’ll let you know if I ever do,” Steve laughed, turning to walk toward the kitchen. “Can I get you something to help you get settled? Warm milk maybe?” He heard Celia following him and she perched on a stool next to the counter.

“Only if you spike it with sleeping pills,” she joked, resting her chin on her fist.

“Sorry, fresh out of those. I could raid Tony’s bar for you if you’d like,” Steve offered, with a chuckle.

“I’m not much of a drinker, but I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So what do you like to do for fun, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Fun? Don’t know it,” Celia chuckled, closing her eyes. “I usually keep myself busy with work and other stuff, so I don’t really have time.”

“You’re kind of mysterious,” Steve said with a grin. Steve would be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued to hear more of Celia’s story. From the name change and the empty apartment, to the little bits of detail she sprinkled here and there. But Steve would never outright ask her anything he thought she would want to keep to herself. He respected her right to privacy.

“I’d say I’m more boring than mysterious. I’m a lot less interesting than the things you see, being a superhero and all.”

“Oh, you mean the alien thing? Yeah, that was a bit strange.”

“Just a bit.”

“Pardon the interruption, but Dr. Banner has requested your presence in the bedroom,” Jarvis announced, snapping Celia from her rest.

“And how do you get used to that?” Celia asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Again, I’ll let you know,” Steve laughed, leading her to his bedroom. Bruce had a large machine with monitors sitting next to the bed, the blankets already turned down and ready for Celia to slip in. She toed off her shoes near the door, taking extra time to line them up perfectly with a pair of his. Steve could tell she was nervous and stalling for time. He was pretty nervous too, not knowing if this would work and not knowing what to do if it didn’t.

“Do you need to change before we start?” Bruce asked, picking up the headpiece.

“Should I take my shirt off again?” Celia joked with less zest than she had before. “No, this is fine.” She slowly walked over to the bed and sat down in front of Bruce. He started putting on the equipment, explaining what each part was and what it did.

“Now, when you wake up the first time, if my theory is correct, try your best not to move around. It will help give me the most accurate scans of your brain. And I’m going to ask you what you’re feeling and where you’re feeling it, okay?” Bruce explained, holding the wires so Celia could lay down and get comfortable.

“I’ll leave you guys to it,” Steve said, backing toward the door.

“Wait!” Celia yelled, whipping her head back up to face him. “Stay with me? Please?” Steve froze, staring into her wide eyes. She looked downright terrified now and her words from earlier rang through his head. Celia needed him to be strong for her, when she couldn’t be strong for herself. Steve slipped off his shoes and climbed onto the other side of the bed, resting against the backboard.

“No place I’d rather be,” he stated firmly, smiling at the grateful look in Celia’s eyes. She nestled back down on her side, facing him.

“Okay now, try to relax and drift off to sleep,” Bruce instructed, sitting down on a chair in front of his monitor. Celia blew out a breath and closed her eyes, relaxing into the mattress. Tony had tried to explain to him the benefits of this certain mattress, something about body conforming and support, but Steve hadn’t paid much attention. Back in his day, as long as you weren’t sleeping on the floor, you had it made. Steve noticed Celia’s breaths starting to even out and he stole a glance at Bruce. Bruce nodded, writing a note down in his notebook. Steve braced himself for Celia to suddenly awaken, feeling his stomach roil at the thought of seeing her in pain again. He knew the pain wouldn’t be as bad as the first time, in the elevator, but he still hated seeing it. Her screams would be a frequent visitor in his nightmares to come, he was sure of it.

Celia jerked awake with a quiet gasp, immediately squeezing her eyes closed again. Steve’s hand hovered over her, wanting to provide comfort, but not knowing if he would mess up the readings.

“What are you feeling Celia?” Bruce asked, in his best doctor voice.

“Ugh, I feel like a tingly burning in my muscles,” Celia panted, flexing her hands.

“Where?”

“All over, mostly my legs though.”

“Heart rate is at 180bpm, Dr. Banner,” Jarvis noted. Bruce jotted down a note, coming over to stand at Celia’s side.

“Try to take slow, even breaths, okay?” Bruce directed, demonstrating what he wanted. Celia took a stuttering breath, wincing out an exhale. Steve scooted down to lay beside her, putting her hand on his chest so she could feel his breathing.

“Let’s do it together,” Steve said calmly, staring into her eyes. “In and out, in and out, just like that.” They stayed that way for a few minutes, breathing together until Celia finally breathed out a sigh of relief.

“It’s over,” Celia mumbled, pulling her hand back and tucking it against herself under the blanket. “Thank you.”

“What was your pain level?” Bruce asked, going back to his notebook to write down more information he gathered.

“It wasn’t as bad as the other times, maybe a 3 out of 10. It hasn’t been very long since the last time I fell asleep, so I guess I didn’t have a chance to do too much damage,” Celia answered, closing her eyes again.

“Alright, I guess all that’s left now is to test out the second part of our theory: going back to sleep,” Bruce stated, setting down his notebook. “I’ll leave all the equipment on, even though we won’t need all the readings we’ll get. I just don’t want to risk waking you if you stay asleep.” Celia nodded, squirming a little to try to get comfortable.

“My brain doesn’t seem to want me to fall asleep this time,” Celia mumbled after a few minutes of trying to drift off.

“Finally want to take me up on that offer of warm milk?” Steve joked, still laying next to her on the bed.

“Could you just talk?”

“What do you want me to talk about?”

“Anything. Just don’t talk about yourself. I’ll want to stay awake and listen.”

Steve felt a little warmth grow inside his chest at Celia’s words. They were so effortlessly charming it was like she had heard it in a movie. He grabbed one of the more dull history books he had sitting on his end table and started reading out loud. Steve was five minutes into the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson when he noticed Bruce give him a signal. He held his breath, counting down in his head the time when Celia had shown to kick off her healing. The seconds passed slower than Steve could ever remember in his life, second only to waiting for Tony to fall back through the wormhole. He closed his eyes and counted to sixty in his head, willing the silence to continue. When the minute passed, he opened his eyes to find Bruce’s smiling face, holding a thumbs up. The theory was right. 

Steve felt a weight lift off his chest. The relief was like losing an ache you didn’t realize you had until it was gone, a vice gripped around his chest falling loose and finally letting him breathe freely. He laid his head back down, staring up at the ceiling. Even with his long nap the day before, the stress of it all and the serum working to heal his shoulder was sucking the energy right out of him. He closed his eyes for a moment to let himself rest a bit, just for a little while until he was ready to carefully remove himself from the bed. Steve heard Bruce quietly step out of the room, the door almost silently snicking closed behind him. He would just relax for a little bit longer, then go be productive. Just one more minute.


	19. Chapter 19

Celia wriggled a little, trying to get comfortable again and fall back to sleep. She furrowed her brow, confused by the spacious bed. This wasn’t the couch in her apartment. It was much softer and smelled like men’s soap. Celia tried to get her sleep addled brain to focus, remembering how she got into this situation. Random hookups were not her style. She gasped when the events of the last two days came back to her, her eyes springing open to see the bulging arms of a super soldier lying next to her.

She had been asleep. Bruce was right! Celia sat up, peeling the headpiece off and setting it down next to the machine. Steve was sleeping on his back on top of the covers, open history book resting on his chest. Overcome with so much joy and relief, she threw herself at him, forcing a startled oof out of his mouth.

“It worked!” Celia exclaimed, hugging him tightly and smashing the book between their chests. Steve breathlessly chuckled a little, squirming under her weight. She let him go, leaning back so he could sit up and get his bearings.

“Yeah, sorry I fell asleep too. I was meaning to get up but…” Steve trailed off, putting his book back on the table.

“It’s been a long couple days,” Celia said, finishing his thought. She flopped back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. It was like her life restarted, pushing her out of the limbo she had been wading around in. But now that sleeping was figured out, she just had to figure out the rest of her life.

“Jarvis, what time is it?” Steve asked, standing up and stretching. He rolled his injured shoulder a bit, but Celia didn’t see any signs of discomfort on his face.

“It is 7:14pm Captain,” Jarvis answered.

“Wow, we slept like five or six hours?” Celia asked, in awe. It felt like the most restful sleep she had ever gotten in her life.

“Looks like. We’re gonna have a hell of a time going to sleep tonight,” Steve noted.

“What do we do now?” Celia wondered out loud. Now that there wasn’t an urgent problem to solve, it felt weird being in the tower. She wished she was back at her apartment alone, but she promised Steve she would stick around, at least for a while.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I definitely am starving now,” Steve laughed, rubbing his stomach as it audibly growled.

“I can make us dinner, if you’d like?” Celia offered, rolling slowly out of bed. She didn’t want to leave its warmth, but she was kind of hungry too. And she wanted to do something to try to thank Steve for all he’d done for her.

“You don’t have to do that. There’s usually something leftover on the common floor. I don’t really have much in my kitchen.”

“I’m very good at whipping something up with whatever ingredients I have available. I’ll never be able to make up for all you’ve done for me, so just let me cook you dinner.”

“Alright, and there is something you can do for me,” Steve said slyly. Celia stood silently, waiting for whatever it was that Steve would propose. “You have to stop thinking you owe me anything.” Celia rolled her eyes.

“So I’m gonna pretend like I don’t owe you anything while you pretend to not feel guilty every time you look at me?” Celia asked, raising an eyebrow. Steve laughed, shaking his head and walking toward the door.

“What’s that saying you all have now? ‘Fake it til you make it.’ Seems to be where we’re at.”

“I’m sure we’ll both do great,” Celia chuckled. She picked up her bag that was resting by the door, giving it a little jiggle. “Anyplace I can freshen up?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t mind a shower myself, now that you mention it,” Steve said, leading her down the hall to another bedroom that was empty. “There’s another bathroom through here you can use.”

“Thanks,” Celia said, refraining from making a joke about showering together to save water. She didn’t want to make him feel more uncomfortable, after accidentally sleeping in the same bed as her. She walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. It wasn’t as fancy as the one she and Steve had cleaned up in the day before, but it was still very nice. There wasn’t a bathtub, but there was a walk in shower enclosed in glass, with multiple showerheads. If this is what a bathroom in an unused guest room looked like, she could just imagine what the other floors of the tower looked like. There were little bottles of toiletries lined up on the shelves, but Celia took her own out anyways. She didn’t want to take any more than absolutely necessary from Tony.

After the quickest, most luxurious shower of her life, she stepped back out into the hallway, hair a bit damp and dressed in her usual white shirt and black pants. Celia wandered back to the living room, walking back to stand again in front of the large windows. The sky was getting darker and the lights of the city were starting to turn on, casting a lively glow over the streets. 

“I punched an alien over there,” Steve bragged, pointing to the street below. Celia hadn’t heard him approach, but was able to stop herself from jumping in surprise.

“Very impressive,” Celia laughed, turning to face him.

“Where were you that day?” Steve asked, leading her to the kitchen.

“I was up north with a client fortunately,” Celia said, gesturing to the fridge for permission. At Steve’s nod she opened it, not surprised by the lack of options. He pretty much only had the basics, nothing for making a complicated meal. “You weren’t kidding about not cooking much, were you?”

“It’s okay if you want to admit defeat and go to the common floor,” Steve challenged with a raised eyebrow. Celia scoffed, not going down without a fight. She grabbed the eggs and bread from the fridge, plotting in her head.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any spices, would you?” Celia asked, hoping for a miracle.

“I’ve got some salt,” Steve said proudly, sitting down on a stool on the other side of the counter. Celia snorted, going back to the fridge and grabbing more ingredients. Steve had the stuff to make a basic ham sandwich, but that wouldn’t be very impressive. She wanted to knock his socks off. 

“I can’t believe you have this amazing kitchen and you don’t even use it,” Celia said, moving around like she was always here. The appliances looked brand new and barely used, the pans unscratched and top of the line.

“I never really cooked much growing up. And then in the Army I just ate what they gave me. Now, Tony pretty much provides all the food from someplace or another. Do you cook a lot?”

“Every meal,” Celia answered, adding a few slices of lunch meat to a sizzling hot pan.

“I’m pretty sure that’s precooked,” Steve said, pointing to the pan.

“I’ll leave the alien fighting to you, you leave the cooking to me,” Celia shot back, flipping the meat when the bottom started to brown and bubble. Steve lifted his hands in surrender, sitting back and watching her work. She whisked some eggs while waiting for the meat to finish, adding a little bit of the table salt.

“What’s your favorite thing to cook?” Steve asked, snagging a corner off one of the finished slices of meat. He hummed appreciatively and she shifted the plate away from him, not wanting him to eat it all before she could use it.

“I love cooking someone’s favorite meal and just watching them enjoy eating it,” Celia said with a smile, pouring the eggs into the pan the meat was cooked in. She rolled a couple slices of bread in the egg, leaving them to cook for a bit. “I also love baking bread. It’s so much fun trying different recipes and techniques, then watching it rise and bake. Making it is almost better than actually eating it.”

“My mom used to bake bread,” Steve said with a soft smile. “It was usually cheaper to make it than buy it. The whole apartment would be filled with the smell. And she’d let me have the end pieces, because they were my favorite.”

“No cutting off the crusts for you, got it,” Celia said, feeling warmed by the fact he would talk about his past with her, even if it was just an innocent story about food. She folded and flipped the eggs, adding shredded pieces of cooked ham and some cheese she found, getting everything hot and melty.

“People cut the crust off of bread?” Steve asked, sounding scandalized. “How wasteful.” Celia chuckled, flipping the finished sandwich onto an awaiting plate.

“Dinner is served,” Celia said with a flourish, bowing gracefully as she presented Steve with the plate. Steve grinned at her antics, reaching to grab the food before stopping with a frown.

“You aren’t eating?” Steve asked.

“I can only cook one at a time,” Celia said, pouring more eggs into the pan.

“I’ll wait for you then. It would be rude to eat before your food is done,” Steve stated, always the gentleman.

“No, eat it now, while the cheese is all melty,” Celia argued. She wanted her food to be eaten in its peak form. “I insist.” Steve acquiesced, picking up the sandwich and taking a big bite. Celia watched his face, looking for a positive reaction. Steve chewed, the corners of his mouth turning up. The dutifully polite man he was, he waited until he swallowed before commenting.

“This is great!” Steve exclaimed, taking another bite. Celia smiled, pride swirling in her chest. She went back to finishing her own food, her own hunger ratcheting up seeing Steve enjoy his meal so much.

“Wait until you try it with bacon,” Celia commented, taking her first bite. Steve’s eyes lit up, running through possibilities in his mind.

“I could help you make more and we could make some for the whole team,” Steve suggested. “I scramble a mean egg.”

“Sounds great,” Celia said, staring down at her sandwich. She wasn’t sure if the rest of the team would appreciate her presence. They didn’t really get off on the right foot.

“The team will love you,” Steve said, noticing her unease. She sighed, picking at her food.

“People don’t usually appreciate random people thrust onto them. What even is my place here?” Celia asked. What was the point of her even being here? Was it just to hide her from the public, in case word got out about what happened? Was the serum government property, which made her government property too? Were the rest of the Avengers having a meeting about how to get rid of her right now and Steve was just the decoy?

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Steve admitted, flicking at a crumb on his plate. “I still think it’s better for you to stay here. And it’s not like we all knew each other before we teamed up. We just kind of got stuck together and it works, mostly.” If what she had seen so far was working, she’d hate to see what he’d consider not working. They all seemed to care about each other, but they didn’t seem to see eye to eye on a lot of things.

“You’ll tell me the truth though, right? If things aren’t going well with the others. I don’t want what happened to me to interfere with your loyalty to your team,” Celia asked, reaching to grab Steve’s empty plate. He stopped her with a firm hand on her wrist.

“I don’t think it will come to that. We’re a pretty accepting group of people, even if we don’t give off that impression at first. I’m sure it’ll all work out and I’m the Captain, so I have a pretty good handle on these things,” Steve said confidently, flashing her his best Captain America smile. “There is one problem though. You’re crazy if you think I’m gonna let you wash these dishes after you cooked me dinner.” In a flash he released her wrist and grabbed the plate from under her hand, leaning forward and grabbing her own as well. 

“You mean there isn’t a robot around here somewhere to do that for you?” Celia quipped, taking the cooling pan over to the sink.

“I’m pretty sure Tony hoards all the robots in his lab,” Steve said with a laugh. Celia grabbed a towel from a drawer, waiting for Steve to start when he eyed it and tried to snatch it out of her hand. “Hey, I told you I was cleaning up!” He jerked on the end, but she held tight.

“I was just going to dry!” Celia defended, pulling back on the towel. They were stuck in a tug of war over the towel, friendly glares on both of their faces.

“It would be very easy for me to take this from you. Barely any effort,” Steve bragged, flexing a little.

“Why haven’t you then?” Celia challenged, bracing herself for the competition.

“Am I interrupting something?”


	20. Chapter 20

Bruce was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, taking in the whole scene with a slight smirk. Steve and Celia both froze for a moment before Celia dropped the towel, turning to face Bruce. Steve nonchalantly dropped the towel on the counter, trying to hide his embarrassment from being caught acting so childish.

“I slept Bruce, you were right!” Celia exclaimed, walking over and wrapping Bruce in a big hug. Steve chuckled at Bruce’s bewildered face. Most people avoided contact with Bruce, fear of the Hulk ruling their actions. Not Celia evidently. Bruce patted her arm as she released him, wide smile on her face.

“I know, I’m glad,” Bruce said, smoothing out his hug wrinkled shirt. “I was down in my lab going over the data I collected, if you’d like to hear about it?”

“Of course,” Celia answered, leading Bruce over to the stools at the counter. Steve abandoned his dishes mission to listen in on what Bruce found, leaning forward on his hands.

“I hooked you up to the EEG because I wanted to track your brain waves while you were in normal sleep and while you were healing. And to see at which point in your sleep cycle the healing was triggered. When we sleep we cycle through a few different stages of sleep, non-REM and REM. You have to go through a few stages of non-REM before you get to REM, which takes time. Your healing kicked in way before that was possible.”

“So what does that tell us?” Steve asked when Bruce paused to take a breath.

“If the healing had been triggered in REM sleep, it would happen when the brain is more active on an unconscious level, similar to when we’re awake. But the healing starts when your brain activity lowers to mostly inactive, more like the second stage of non-REM. When a person loses consciousness, they have a similar brain wave to someone in that stage. Most likely, this tells us that sleeping triggers your healing and losing consciousness will too.”

“So, say I get into a car accident and pass out. I’ll immediately wake up and heal?” Celia asked.

“That’s what the science is telling me so far. We won’t know for sure unless it happens though,” Bruce answered.

“And if I take a fatal blow, like a gunshot to the head or break my neck falling off a building, if I pass out instead of die immediately, you think I’ll heal?” Celia questioned.

“I believe so,” Bruce concurred.

“Does this mean I’ll never die naturally?”

Steve sucked in a breath, startled by the possibility of what she just said. It made sense, an illness she would happen to get should be healed as soon as she fell asleep. Her body wouldn’t let anything progress to a point where it could kill her outright. And if her body was healing it’s muscles every night, was it regenerating all of her cells too? Would she ever age? Steve could tell by the look on Celia’s face that she was going through these possibilities too.

“At this point, I don’t know. And there isn’t really a test I’m comfortable giving you to see if you are able to die,” Bruce trailed off, looking away. Steve was mentally brought back to the helicarrier, when Bruce admitted to attempting suicide to see if he could finally rid himself of the hulk. He shuddered internally, imagining Celia becoming desperate enough to try that.

“I guess it won’t do me much good to worry about that now,” Celia said quietly, running her finger along the edge of the counter. “What else did you find out?”

“I had Jarvis tracking all your vitals. Your heart rate got up to 180bpm, which is fairly high. It isn’t too uncommon in athlete’s who are training, but is a little concerning for someone in a stationary position. What I think is happening is the blood is being pumped faster through your body to get in and out of your muscles quicker, and helping to support the healing taking place. Your temperature rose a bit also, but not to anywhere too concerning,” Bruce explained.

“So it doesn’t really matter what’s happening to my body while it heals, because I’ll go back to normal when it’s over, right?”

“Basically. But I just wanted to give you all the details I could, since it’s your body.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it. I’d rather have all the facts than have something come up and catch me off guard,” Celia said earnestly. Steve sighed a bit in relief. It wasn’t all great news, but none of it was too devastating at this point.

“So, what now?” Steve asked, needing to have a task. It was unnatural to be sitting on the sidelines while things were happening. He needed a purpose, he needed to help.

“There is one other thing…” Bruce trailed off. Steve and Celia glanced anxiously at each other. Bruce hadn’t been nervous about what they talked about so far, so this must be something more unsavory.

“What is it?” Steve asked.

“Fury has been calling for you.”

“What’s that?” Celia asked, confused.

“Not what, who,” Bruce corrected. “He’s the director of Shield.”

“Your boss’s name is Fury,” Celia stated with a snort. “Well, that’s not ominous.”

“When did he call? What did he say?” Steve asked, feeling the dread pool in the pit of his stomach. He had forgotten about more official things in the quest to solve Celia’s sleep problem. He imagined Shield was chomping at the bit to get his report on what went down in the elevator.

“He started calling a few hours ago, but I had Jarvis block all communication to your floor, so it wouldn’t wake you up.”

“How did he feel about that?”

“He wasn’t very pleased, but I explained that you needed your rest to heal and be at 100%, so he couldn’t really argue much.”

“I guess I should call him back,” Steve said reluctantly. “Although, it is kind of late. I wouldn’t want to be rude.”

“No need, he’s coming to the tower in the morning,” Bruce replied with a grimace. Steve had to stop himself from visibly spluttering. He was not expecting that answer.

“And how does Tony feel about that? He isn’t usually a fan of official Shield meetings happening in his tower,” Steve wondered aloud. He didn’t want this to be another ding for Celia in Tony’s scorecard.

“It was Tony’s idea actually,” Bruce admitted with a shrug. “He figured it would be safer to keep details in house for now, until we know who to trust.”

“And you trust this guy?” Celia asked. Neither he nor Bruce said anything for a moment, considering the question. There was the whole deal with the alien weapons that Steve was still unhappy   
about. But Fury had gone to bat for them with the council. It was too complicated to have a definitive opinion of the man and the agency he ran.

“I wouldn’t say I trust him, but I believe he would try to do what’s best for the good of the people,” Steve said, less than confidently. Celia frowned, side eyeing him a little.

“Well, now that we’ve heard your bullshit Captain America answer, what do you really think, Steve?” Celia questioned, quirking her brow in a challenge. Bruce stifled a laugh, coughing behind his fist.

“I think Fury is the best option we have. Am I happy about that? No. But he’s better to have as an ally than an enemy. So I think we need to get in front of this, feel him out a little and take the lead, because Shield won’t hesitate to try to take control if we let them,” Steve stated emphatically.

“Okay,” Celia agreed, accepting his answer, “so what do we tell him?”

“We need to figure it out before Fury comes in the morning. I think we should have a team meeting. Presenting a united front will be better for us in the long run,” Steve said, hiding the unease he felt about bringing the team together to talk about this. Tony seemed to have thawed a bit toward Celia, but Steve didn’t know if he’d be able to hold in his snark for a meeting with Fury, which could thin the director’s patience. Clint and Natasha were wild cards, their loyalty divided between Shield and The Avengers, but he hoped he could count on them to side with the team, since they lived and fought together.

“Might as well get this over with,” Celia mumbled, standing up from her seat and stretching.

“Last I saw, everyone was on the common floor. That still the case Jarvis?” Bruce asked, standing and stretching also. Steve glanced back mournfully at the unwashed dishes. Just a few minutes ago all he was focused on was casual kitchen banter, now he had to go into a serious team meeting to prepare for another serious team meeting. Celia seemed to be hiding her nerves well, if she was feeling any. She had the most to lose and had to put her fate into the hands of strangers.

“It is, Dr. Banner,” Jarvis responded. “Should I inform the others of your impending arrival?”

“Yeah, thanks Jarvis,” Bruce said, walking toward the elevator. Celia started to follow, but held back when she noticed he hadn’t moved.

“The dishes can wait,” Celia joked, tilting her head toward where Bruce was waiting. Steve forced a small smile, appreciating her effort to lighten the mood, even if it didn’t work.

“I don’t know how the next 24 hours are going to go, but I’ll do my best to back whatever you want to do,” Steve said earnestly, thinking back to what he said to Bruce the night before. He never wanted to force anyone into doing anything they didn’t want to do. Steve was prepared to fight back against Shield if they overstepped any of Celia’s boundaries.

“I appreciate that. I don’t know what I want to do at this point because I don’t know what my options are. But I’m ready to get all this over with. The anticipation is always the worst,” Celia said, walking backwards toward the doorway. “Now, we don’t want to keep Tony waiting and have him turn the elevator into a microwave, do we?” Steve chuckled a little before frowning, wondering if that was possible. Knowing Tony, it was.


	21. Chapter 21

Celia put her game face on during the short ride up in the elevator. She was doing her best to appear calm and solid on the outside, while inside she felt like her bones were going to vibrate out of her body. She felt like she was walking into the work interview from hell. How do you convince a group of arguably the most powerful people on the planet to not hand her over to a government agency and wash their hands of her? They probably had much more important things to deal with than a woman who just happened to get shot along with their Captain.

She was being honest before when she said she didn’t know what she wanted to do now. What were her options? What does a person with accelerated healing abilities do? Should she donate her body to science? Celia didn’t think being a living test subject for the rest of her possibly unnatural length life sounded like a good plan. But if the rest of the team and their boss decided that was the plan, would she have any say? Steve said he would try to back her as much as he could, but would his words have enough power if his boss was set in his decision?

“Celia?” Steve’s voice murmured in her ear, jolting her from her thoughts. The elevator was on the common floor with the doors open, Bruce having already left. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Celia sighed, “just thinking.” Mentally checking out in the span of a twenty second elevator ride wasn’t quite the calm and collected impression she was trying to give off, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. She doubted she was fooling anybody anyway, but maybe she could fool herself into thinking she was okay if she tried hard enough. Celia squared her shoulders, letting Steve lead the way to the rest of the team.

Everyone was sitting around a long dining table, chatting quietly with each other. The table was a long, rectangular shape with high backed wooden chairs. Tony, Clint, and Natasha were sitting together at one end, with Tony at the head, of course. Bruce was sitting in the middle, perhaps positioning himself to be the mediator if necessary. Celia hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but she appreciated the gesture, unconscious or not. Celia stood next to Steve at the other end of the table, waiting for him to choose a seat before her. Should she sit next to him? Would it seem like she needed to hide behind the Captain for support? Steve sat at the end of the table, directly across from Tony. Celia sat guiltily between Bruce and Steve, feeling like the cause of all this unease on the team. She imagined how they were before she came into the picture, sharing meals and stories over dinner at this table. She didn’t know if that was true, but she hoped it wasn’t always this tense.

“Should I call this meeting to order?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Tony, can you not start already?” Steve groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Start what?”

“Can you just be serious for once?”

“I feel like I was the only one taking this seriously from the beginning!”

“You were being very mean about it though!”

“Mean? God, you sound like a child.”

“As if the Jiffy Pop thing wasn’t childish?”

“Is this how they always are?” Celia whispered to Bruce, watching the back and forth like a tennis match.

“Pretty much,” Bruce admitted, rolling his eyes. They sat quietly and watched as Steve and Tony sniped at each other, throwing any little digs they could think of at the other. All that work she had done to get Steve to relax a little just flying out the window in front of her eyes. Again, she was mystified by the fact they had actually worked together enough to fight aliens. She didn’t really want to say anything, but she wanted to get this meeting over with so they’d be prepared for the final boss tomorrow.

“Guys,” Celia tried to interject, but she was fully ignored. Tony had moved onto making fun of Steve’s clothes apparently and Steve countered with something about the color scheme of Iron Man. Celia looked over to Bruce, giving him a nudge. Someone had to be the voice of reason and it definitely wasn’t going to be her.

“Jarvis, sound the alarm,” Bruce said quietly. Immediately an ear splitting siren blared through the room. Bruce and Celia stayed seated, covering their ears. The rest of the team sprang up, ready to battle the unknown foe.

“What’s happening Jarvis?!” Tony yelled over the shrill noise. The alarm abruptly ended, everyone looking around the room for something to happen.

“Just running a program for Dr. Banner, sir,” Jarvis replied. Everyone’s head swiveled to face Bruce, varying levels of shock and amusement coloring their features.

“What the hell Banner! You can’t just use someone’s computer program against them. That’s something I would do,” Tony moaned, flopping back into his seat.

“We weren’t getting anywhere with your squabbling, so I did what I had to do,” Bruce stated calmly.

“You’re right Bruce, and I apologize,” Steve said, lowering stiffly back into his chair. “Tony and I were being immature and wasting time.”

“When did you even set that up?” Clint asked, with a chuckle.

“After their second Wizard of Oz argument,” Bruce laughed, shaking his head.

“Do they argue about The Wizard of Oz a lot?” Celia asked Bruce quietly.

“More than you’d think, yeah.”

“Okay, let’s focus back on the task at hand,” Steve said in his Captain America voice. “What did Fury say when he called?”

“He didn’t say much, just that he wanted you to come in to give a full report,” Bruce replied.

“I think he was so annoyed that you were too busy getting your beauty rest that he didn’t want to talk to us peasants,” Tony grumbled. “Not that I usually like talking to our overlord, but he didn’t seem to be too forthcoming with the details.”

“Did he mention Celia?” Steve asked, glancing over at her.

“No, he didn’t say anything. I don’t think he knows she’s here,” Bruce answered.

“Do we tell him? He obviously knows she exists, since Shield was there, but he might still think she is just a witness,” Steve commented.

“Cap, you were about to take that agent’s head off when he grabbed Celia’s arm. Fury probably knows something strange happened in there, more than just the usual dead guy.”

“Ooooh, who was it? I wonder if we know them,” Clint cut in, nudging Natasha with his elbow.

“I don’t know, he looked like every other Shield agent. Bland face, average build,” Tony scoffed. At Natasha and Clint’s matching glares he hastily added, “Not that you look like that. You could be models of course. This guy looked straight out of college, smelled like it too.”

“Smelled like it? Was it like Axe Body Spray?” Natasha questioned.

“Maybe?”

“Must’ve been Miller. He sprays that shit on all day.”

“Not that this hasn’t been interesting, but what does all this matter?” Steve interjected, looking impatient.

“Miller doesn’t really like to be challenged. He’s still pretty green and is trying to make a name for himself, so he won’t be happy if you embarrassed him in front of the other agents,” Natasha explained.

“I’ll keep that in mind. But he shouldn’t have grabbed Celia’s arm like that. It was rude and I won’t stand for a man getting rough with a lady,” Steve stated. Tony choked on a laugh, coughing quietly behind his hand. Celia looked down, trying to hide her own embarrassed smile. Classic Steve, defender of others, even when he has a hole in his body.

“All that aside, if Fury knows Celia’s here, he’s gonna know something is up. So do we hide her away for now until things settle down a bit?” Bruce wondered.

“But for how long? And what do we say to Fury then? That we didn’t trust him yet? That’s gonna put him more on edge and suspicious,” Natasha pointed out.

“Did he even sound angry and suspicious when he called?” Clint asked. “It’s not weird that he would want Cap to come in and give his report, so maybe we’re making it into something bigger than it is?”

“When has Fury ever not sounded angry? I heard him give a coffee order once and the agent almost pissed his pants,” Tony said with a snort.

“You’re over exaggerating,” Natasha brushed off. “He may come off as a bit gruff, but he has to be in his position.”

“How about we move away from the inner workings of Fury’s mind before we dive into wondering if he got enough hugs as a child. I for one would like to get back to business. I have plans for a nice video chat with Pepper during her break and if I miss it again, she’ll have my head. And I can assure you, she is much scarier than Fury,” Tony interjected.

“I think we’re forgetting to ask an important question,” Bruce said, getting everyone’s attention back on him. He turned to look at her, a pointed look on his face. “What do you want to do?” Celia froze, not ready to be an active participant in the conversation. Everyone else seemed to have forgotten she was even there, talking about her like she wasn’t in the room. Not that she minded, she was happy for them to figure out the little details. She was not expecting such a big decision to be left up to her, even if she would be the most affected by the outcome.

“I think…” Celia trailed off, looking around the table before settling on Steve, “we should tell Fury everything.”

*

Steve opened his mouth to reply, but paused, gathering his thoughts. He knew Celia was anxious to get the ball rolling, to wherever it led, but he expected her to be a bit more cautious than this. Steve wasn’t sure yet what his plan of action would be, but he figured she deserved for them to hear her out.

“Can you explain why you think that’s a good idea?” Steve asked. Celia sighed, scrubbing a hand down her face.

“The way you all are talking about this guy, I feel like he’s gonna find out, no matter what. It looks worse if we seem like we’re hiding it. It makes me look guilty,” Celia replied, shrugging. “I didn’t do anything wrong, so I shouldn’t act like it, right?”

“What if Fury says he wants to take you into Shield? Will you go?” Steve asked. He was worried about what would happen to her if the people more powerful than Fury found out about the healing. He didn’t think Fury would rush to have her locked in a lab for testing, but he wasn’t sure if the council or anyone else would have that kind of restraint.

“I think if we can convince him I’m not a flight risk, that Tony’s already offered me a place to stay, we can argue against that. I’m not planning on going anywhere, if that helps him trust me a little.”

“Living in my tower might actually be a negative tally for you in Fury’s eyes. He’s not my biggest fan.”

“Don’t act like he didn’t soften on you a bit after the battle. I haven’t heard him threaten you since,” Natasha pointed out. Steve could never picture Tony and Fury chatting casually at a bar, but he could admit Fury had developed a grudging respect for the other man after almost sacrificing his life to fly a nuke into space.

“What if we just tell Fury that they’re dating?” Clint suggested. Every head snapped toward Clint, making him recoil a little. “It was just an idea.”

“It does make a little sense. It would explain why Cap was so protective of her,” Natasha noted. Tony burst out laughing, holding his stomach and wiping away tears. Steve glared at him across the table, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“As if Captain Chastity would have a live-in girlfriend two months out of the ice! He probably wouldn’t even be in the hand holding stage yet,” Tony scoffed. Steve looked away from the group, reminded of all the time he wasted with Peggy. It wouldn’t have changed what happened to him, but he regretted not letting his feelings be known sooner, and more clearly. Even if the time would’ve been short, he wished he would have been in a real relationship with her. Celia’s soft hand on his arm pulled him back into focus, a kind, understanding look on her face. Tony was rubbing the back of his head, Natasha casually checking her nails.

“Holding back details is one thing, but outright lying? I think that leads back to looking guilty, which is what we don’t want,” Bruce pointed out, ignoring Tony’s jabs. 

“Why don’t we just let Fury lead the conversation? Answer the questions he asks honestly, but don’t offer up any extra? Then toward the end, if Celia still feels good about it, she can tell him about the healing. If not, we can hold off for a while,” Natasha offered, looking around the group for opinions.

“That makes sense, letting Fury decide the direction the conversation goes. And if he’s in one of his better moods, let him know what happened,” Steve agreed, looking toward Celia. “How do you feel about this plan?”

“I think it sounds reasonable,” Celia concurred, smiling in relief. Steve felt a bit of relief as well, one less thing to worry about at this point.

“Well, now that that’s settled, let’s figure out Celia’s sleeping situation,” Tony said, clapping his hands together to get the attention on him again. “Have you considered the private floor idea?”

“I don’t feel comfortable with that. Thank you for the offer, it’s extremely generous, but I can’t accept,” Celia said, looking grateful and embarrassed. 

“There aren’t that many options, thanks to all the construction. I had to focus on the team floors of course, couldn’t let my lovely houseguests be uncomfortable,” Tony exaggerated, like it wasn’t his idea to begin with. “Where did you think you’d be sleeping when Steve proposed the idea?”

“I figured you’d have guest rooms somewhere. Or a cot to throw in a closet,” Celia said with a shrug.

“I have a few guest rooms on my floor, but one is pretty much Rhodey’s. And, no offense, I don’t really want you on my floor,” Tony said, with a laugh. Steve was about to reprimand Tony for being so rude, but Celia’s laugh stopped him.

“I don’t really want to sleep on your floor either,” Celia agreed.

“Where did you sleep earlier? In Banner’s lab?” Tony asked, glancing over at him with a gleam in his eye.

“Steve’s floor.”

“Oh, I didn’t know Cap had a guest room set up.”

“He doesn’t. At least, not that I know of.”

“Cap, I can’t believe you made a guest sleep on your couch. That’s so unlike you.” Steve frowned, not liking whatever game Tony was playing.

“I let her use my bed Stark. Of course I wouldn’t put her on the couch,” Steve grumbled out.

“Is that why you’re so grumpy? Because you had to take your nap on the couch?” Tony asked, smirk just waiting to bust out over his face. Steve looked away, not wanting to see Tony’s face when he reached the conclusion of his shenanigans. “Wait, are you telling me… you shared a bed! Forget what I said about Captain Chastity! I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Tony,” Bruce sighed, pushing back his seat and standing up. “Don’t you have a call to make? Or should I have Jarvis tell Pepper you’re having a science binge and couldn’t be bothered.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Tony gasped, sobering immediately. He jumped from his seat, rushing to the elevator. “Figure it out amongst yourselves,” he called over his shoulder, disappearing through the doors.

“I’m sorry I suggested the dating thing. I didn’t mean to start Tony down that path,” Clint apologized. Steve waved him off, not angry at the other man.

“It’s fine. Tony never needs a reason to tease people,” Steve sighed, leaning back in his seat.

“I’m gonna stop by your floor to gather the equipment back up, then head down to my lab, if you don’t mind?” Bruce asked, gesturing toward the door. Steve nodded his consent, waving goodbye as the older man walked away. Now that there weren’t any pressing concerns for the first time in days, he didn’t know what to do. The gym was still out of the question, Bruce would have his head if he didn’t let his bullet wound heal up. It was too early for bed, and he was still wide awake after his long nap. He wouldn’t mind eating, but he didn’t know if there was anything leftover in the team kitchen and he didn’t want Celia to feel like she had to cook again, no matter how much he’d like another sandwich.

“So, Bruce was pretty tight lipped on what you guys were doing earlier. Anything interesting?” Natasha asked, looking between him and Celia. 

“Just a few tests,” Steve answered vaguely, leaving it up to Celia how much information she’d like to share. There were still things about the serum that he didn’t tell anyone, so he didn’t want to take Celia’s privacy from her.

“And everything is okay?” Natasha questioned, raising an eyebrow. Steve looked toward Celia, seeing if she was showing any signs of wanting to speak up. She was looking down, fiddling with the ends of her drying hair.

“The healing is triggered when I fall asleep, that’s it,” Celia said casually, shrugging it off like it wasn’t a big deal. Steve nodded, leaving it at that. He didn’t blame her for leaving out details either. Steve knew the healing was a hard thing for her to go through and it was probably just as hard to talk about. He remembered what it was like after the serum, when everyone around him looked at him so differently. It wasn’t like the team knew Celia before this happened, but he didn’t fault her for wanting to keep the details of how it all went down to herself. It was probably hard enough that he and Bruce were witness to it.

“I wonder if you’ll get any of Cap’s other powers,” Clint mused, scratching at his chin. “Shown any signs of super strength or speed?”

“Haven’t really had the chance to test it out,” Celia said, smirking a bit and looking over at him. Steve rolled his eyes at her, reminded of her earlier teasing about his strength. Gaining other abilities was something they needed to consider, but that didn’t seem too important at this point.

“Mayb-” Steve started, before a marble shot out of nowhere, bouncing off Celia’s forehead and falling into her lap. She looked stunned, but unharmed, picking up the tiny glass bead and rolling it around in her palm. Steve looked over at Clint, who looked like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

“What. The. Hell,” Steve stuttered out, staring wide eyed at the archer. Natasha was sitting next to him blank faced, but he could tell in her eyes she was trying not to laugh.

“I was just testing her reflexes!” Clint burst out, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. “I thought she’d catch it.”

“You could’ve taken her eye out!”

“I have better aim than that!” Clint defended, taking offense to the questioning of his accuracy.

“Where did you even get a marble?” Natasha asked, eyeing Clint.

“Don’t worry about it,” Clint brushed off, slapping away Natasha’s hands as she poked at his pockets.

“And you don’t think there are better ways to test that out?” Steve questioned, glaring at the other man. “How are you going to test her speed? Drop her in the middle of a racetrack?”

“Well now, that’s just ridiculous,” Clint scoffed. “That would not be the best way to test speed. Starting off on a treadmill makes much more sense.”

“Unbelievable,” Steve mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was surrounded by children.

“Can I keep it?” Celia asked quietly from beside him, still rolling the little ball in her hand.

“Sure,” Clint agreed easily, shooting a self satisfied smile over at him.

“Just like that?” Steve asked her, bewildered. Celia had brushed off Tony’s actions much more easily than he would’ve expected, and was now doing the same with Clint. Not that Clint was as bad as Tony had been, but being a pushover wasn’t a very good quality to have.

“Could’ve been an arrow,” Celia said with a shrug, tucking the little marble into her pocket. Steve conceded to that point, but made a note to keep an eye on how Celia acted around the rest of the team. He knew she was nervous being around them at this point, but if she didn’t stick up for herself, she’d never make it here.

“I’m going to head to my floor now, make sure Clint doesn’t have anything hidden,” Natasha said, rising from her chair and slinking away like a cat. Clint rushed after her, looking nervous. “You ever throw a marble at me and I’ll make you swallow it.” Steve chuckled, shaking his head at their tomfoolery. For as silly as they could act around each other, they were equally as lethal and professional in the field.

“Now what?” Celia asked, now that they were alone in the room. Steve looked around, trying to come up with something to do. He didn’t really watch much television, unless it was something one of the team told him he had to watch. He didn’t feel comfortable going anywhere, not wanting Celia out in the world where there could be danger. They hadn’t been very cautious, not knowing anything yet about the shooter. 

“I could take you on a tour of the tower?” Steve suggested. Celia shrugged in agreement and stood up. He started from the bottom up, taking her to the different gyms they had. One had regular workout equipment, some machines souped up to fit the needs of the enhanced members of the team. The other gym had an obstacle course, set up for training and battle simulations. Steve looked at the course longingly, missing the feel of working his muscles. It had only been a day since he had exercised, but he usually didn’t skip any workout sessions.

The next thing he did was tell her the order of everyone else’s floors, but they didn’t stop at any of them. He figured it would be better for her to know which floors to avoid, in case she decided to take the stairs and got mixed up. The last stop was the roof. There was a smaller deck off the penthouse floor, but Steve liked this area better. The lower roof, with the large landing pad was where he liked to come when he needed fresh air and time to decompress. There was nothing to block the view of the city and Steve liked to stand at the very edge, looking down at the hustle and bustle of the streets below.

“Whoa,” Celia breathed, following him to the edge. “This is, whoa.” The sky was still cloudy, but the rain had stopped for now. There weren’t any stars they could see, but the lights of the city made up for it.

“Remind me to bring you up here to watch the sunset,” Steve said with a grin.

“I am holding you to that,” Celia said, shivering as the wind picked up. Steve cursed his lack of planning before bringing Celia up here. They were both wearing short sleeves and he was starting to feel the bite of cold too. He thought about having them go back inside, but it was such a good moment, he didn’t want it to end. It was nice having a chance to just breathe, without worrying about what tomorrow would bring. Steve stepped up next to her, holding his arm out a little from his side in invitation. Celia grinned, accepting his gesture and snuggling in under his arm. She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder.

“You’re warm,” Celia sighed, blowing a puff of hot air on his neck. “It’s nice.”

“It’s the serum,” he chuckled.

“Mmm,” Celia hummed. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Steve sobered a little, reminded of the fact they still didn’t know if Celia would go through any more changes thanks to the serum in his blood. Running a little hot would be one of the least worrisome scenarios.

They stayed that way for a while, losing track of time just watching the world pass by. The faint sounds of the traffic and nightlife were hypnotizing, rounding out the ambiance of their little bubble. Celia yawned suddenly, breaking the silence they had been sharing.

“We should probably get to bed. Fury likes to do things early,” Steve said, regretfully. He didn’t want to go back inside and face the real world again. Celia moaned, pulling away from his hold and stretching. She leaned over the railing of the roof, taking one last look down at the city.

“No matter what happens tomorrow, I’m glad I had this night. That we had this night,” Celia said softly, turning to face him. Steve looked down, nodding in agreement. He thought about throwing out some platitudes, assuring her things would be fine, but he stopped himself. She didn’t need to hear it from him anymore, he had said it all before. He just reached his hand out for her, walking her back into the tower.


	22. Chapter 22

“Morning,” Steve murmured, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Celia had been lying awake for a few minutes, just staring at the ceiling. She smiled thinking back to the night before. After they had come back to Steve’s floor, they had begun arguing nonstop. Steve was insisting that she take his bed while he took the couch. Celia refused to kick him out of his own bed and said she would take the couch. Steve had made a big show of sitting down and getting comfortable, as if that would leave her with no choice but to take the bed. She had warned him she was stubborn before, but apparently it didn’t really sink in until she laid down on the floor, ready to sleep right there. Steve groaned, muttering about hard headed people and rolling off the couch. Celia thought he was admitting defeat and going to his bedroom until he pulled her off the floor, dragging her behind him.

“I guess we can share tonight,” he relented, crossing his arms over his chest in embarrassment. 

“We did already today,” Celia pointed out. “It’s only weird if you make it weird.” Steve sighed in resignation and they parted ways to get ready for bed. Celia went into the bathroom she had used earlier, brushing her teeth and changing into sleep clothes. She chose more covered options than she would wear at home, trying to respect Steve’s old fashioned ways. She figured sharing a bed with a woman was already pushing things pretty far for him.

She found him sitting on the edge of the bed, on the side furthest from the door. The same side he had slept on earlier that day. He hadn’t gotten in the bed yet and she hoped he wasn’t going to try to take the couch again.

“Do you want me to leave? For the first part I mean?” Steve asked quietly, still facing away from her. Celia hesitated before answering, shifting her weight a little. Did she admit that having Steve there the last time really helped? She didn’t want him to think he had to be there every time she wanted to sleep, and she knew his guilt would make him do it. Celia needed to be able to get past this on her own, instead of relying on other people.

“It’s up to you,” Celia said casually, climbing into the bed and leaving the decision up to Steve. If he stayed, great. If he left, she’d deal. Steve slowly climbed in on his side, laying at the very edge. Celia hid a chuckle, observing all the space left open between them in this king sized bed. She was used to sleeping on a full size, when she wasn’t on the couch. All this room to stretch out on was enticing, but she kept to her side, giving Steve his space. They had just spent over an hour wrapped up together on the roof, but this was different.

“Will you read to me again?” Celia asked, tucking the blankets up under her chin. She was glad to have Steve with her while she fell asleep, but she also didn’t want him to stare at her during the healing. It was weird having someone watch her while she was in pain. Steve picked up his same book from earlier, reading to her in a soothing tone as she fell asleep. He kept reading as she went through the healing and didn’t stop until she drifted off again.

“How did you sleep?” Steve asked, bringing her back into the present. Celia turned over to face him, grinning at the sight of his sleep tousled hair. It was easy to forget how young he was when he was wearing his strong Captain America persona. Seeing him while he was relaxed, before he put the weight of the world on his shoulders, was nice.

“Good,” Celia answered honestly. The healing still sucked and hurt more than she’d like to admit, but it was nice having Steve’s voice to focus on. “What time do you think Fury will get here?”

“Director Fury’s eta is approximately one hour and 27 minutes,” Jarvis responded, making Celia twitch a little.

“Maybe only speak when spoken to when it comes to Celia, eh Jarvis?” Steve said, chuckling at her reaction. Celia didn’t care, the super smart computer was creepy.

“I guess we should get up. Get ready to face the music,” Celia groaned, snuggling deeper into the blankets. She wished she could just stay where she was forever, not worry about anything else. Celia could admit to herself that she was terrified about her meeting with the director of Shield. That her earlier issues with Tony would pale in comparison to what she had to face from Fury. But there was no getting around it. She’d face it like she faced everything else: head on.

“Can I make you breakfast?” Steve asked, rolling out of bed. She smirked, raising up on an elbow to eyeball him in a challenge.

“I don’t know, can you?” Celia questioned with a giggle. Steve glared at her, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Meet me in the kitchen in fifteen,” he stated, walking to his bathroom. Celia dragged herself out on her side, softly padding down the hall to the bathroom she’d been using. She got ready in record time, pulling on a clean white t-shirt and the black pants from yesterday, fingering the marble she had tucked into her pocket. She wished she had a chance to go to her storage unit before this meeting to get different clothes, feeling at a disadvantage wearing such casual stuff. Celia hoped the rest of them wouldn’t be dressed up nice for this. She walked back to the kitchen, where Steve already was. He was vigorously beating a bowlful of eggs.

“You weren’t kidding about the eggs,” Celia said, sitting down on the stool Steve had used the day before.

“Super soldier strength does have its advantages,” Steve laughed, giving the bowl one last stir before setting it down on the counter. “I hope you don’t mind scrambled eggs and toast. Not as fancy as what you made, but a classic.”

“Sounds perfect,” Celia agreed, enjoying watching him work. It was nice having someone make her a meal for a change, used to cooking every meal. Her roommates would sometimes cook, but she didn’t ask them to, letting them make their own decisions for a change instead of forcing them to do her bidding.

“Toasters were so expensive when I was a kid,” Steve said, sliding the bread down into the machine. “My mom used to make ours on the stove. It was my job to watch it, so it didn’t burn.” Celia smiled, listening to Steve talk about his mom. She liked that he could do it with joy, instead of with sorrow. The woman might have passed a long time ago by her standards, but it wasn’t the same for Steve.

“Kitchen appliances have come a long way,” Celia commented idly, pulling the marble out of her pocket. She absentmindedly rubbed the spot on her forehead where it had bounced off, remembering the look of pure shock on Steve’s face.

“Breakfast is served,” Steve said with a flourish, presenting Celia with a plate of food. He frowned when he noticed the marble she was playing with, glaring at the little ball.

“What’s wrong?” Celia asked, tucking the marble back into her pocket. Steve sighed, taking a bite of his food instead of answering. Celia took a bite of her own food, prepared to eat in silence until Steve came out with what was bothering him. She could tell Steve had been a lot angrier about the Clint thing than she was, seeing it as more of a funny prank than anything else. She knew what it was like when someone was being malicious, and that wasn’t it. Celia inhaled the rest of her breakfast, hoping it would entice Steve to come out with whatever it was he wanted to say. They didn’t have much time before Fury came, so she wanted to get at least one awkward conversation out of the way. Steve was still picking at the last bit of his toast, stalling so he wouldn’t have to talk. Celia picked up her empty plate, walking it around the counter to the sink. Steve must’ve cleaned up the dishes from last night before she made it out of the bathroom, the entire kitchen spotless besides what they had just used.

Steve gave another heaving sigh, spinning around to face her at the sink. Celia just raised a brow at him, holding her hand out for his plate. He handed it over without argument, grabbing the towel to dry. They stood side by side at the sink, washing and drying in silence. Celia was aching to just elbow the words out of him, but remained patient.

“You can’t let people push you around!” Steve burst out, finally letting out what was bothering him. Celia frowned a bit, thinking back to the past two days and how she definitely didn’t just let Tony walk all over her. She pushed back until she couldn’t anymore.

“I don’t Steve, what are you talking about?” Celia questioned, toweling off her wet hands.

“After everything Tony did and said, you just brushed it off afterwards.”

“What was I supposed to do? Punch him?”

“No, but you acted like it didn’t matter.”

“The only thing I cared about at that point was getting out and doing what I needed to do,” Celia pointed out. “What good would it have done me if I pushed back at Tony, after he was willing to let me go?”

“Okay, but what about with Clint? Throwing something at your face was so inappropriate. You could’ve been hurt.”

“That was not a big deal.”

“He should’ve at least apologized,” Steve ground out stubbornly.

“What is this really about, because I doubt you really want me to be getting into fights with your team about dumb stuff?” Celia questioned, crossing her arms. She hoped this morning before the meeting could be stress free and relaxing, but it didn’t look like that would happen.

“I’m worried about this meeting with Fury, okay?” Steve sighed, walking around the kitchen island to sit on one of the stools. Celia stayed where she was, knowing this conversation would make her too tense to sit still. “It just feels like you’re giving up, ready to tell Fury and Shield everything.”

“What other options do I have Steve?” Celia asked, shaking her head in bewilderment. Steve seemed fine with the plan last night, but now he was going to question it, less than an hour before the meeting started. “You think I haven’t gone through every scenario I could think of in my head by this point? What other choice do you see working out for me?”

“I don’t know, but it just feels like you aren’t thinking of yourself first in this situation.”

“Thinking of myself would’ve had me running the first time I left the tower. And I thought about it,” Celia admitted, sagging under the burden of truth. “I’ve disappeared before, you know. And on some level I’m always ready to do it again, but then what do I do? When I did it before, I hadn’t started my career, I had no ties I wanted to keep. If I had to leave now, I’d have to become a ghost, because where could I hide?” Steve didn’t answer, because there really wasn’t anything to say.

“Just, promise me you won’t give up? That you’ll fight for yourself? You don’t owe anyone anything,” Steve said earnestly.

“I’m going into this with an open mind. Planning only goes so far, then you’ve just gotta roll with the punches. And I know you’ve got my back, so I’m good,” Celia said, trying to convince Steve that she was ready for whatever was going to happen. Steve still didn’t look assured and she shifted restlessly, knowing their time was almost up and not wanting Steve to go up there anything but confident. She needed his calm, strong presence by her side.

“Look, when you’ve been through what I’ve been through, it changes how you approach things. Do I wish I didn’t have to go up there and tell your boss about what happened? Sure. Do I wish I could tell Tony to screw off and never have to see him again? Maybe. But that isn’t realistic for me right now. Sometimes you have to play the long game,” Celia stated confidently.

“Are you playing me right now?” Steve asked, a little bit of sparkle back in his eyes. Celia just shrugged, smiling slyly back at the man.

“Pardon the interruption, but Director Fury is due to arrive in approximately ten minutes,” Jarvis said, making her jerk a little. She was never going to get used to that.

“Tough words coming from a woman scared of a little computer,” Steve smirked, standing up from his stool and walking toward the elevator. Celia sneered at him until he was out of sight, then closed her eyes for a second, gearing herself up for what was to come. She could barely convince someone who was on her side that she was okay. How the hell was she going to pull this off with the head of a government agency?


	23. Chapter 23

“Take us to the meeting please Jarvis,” Steve commanded as soon as they were both in the elevator. Celia was still giving the sides as wide of a berth as she could. He knelt down to whisper in her ear, voice oozing with mock fear. “I bet Jarvis could get you through the floor too.”

“Watch it, or I’ll make you carry me,” Celia grumbled out, pushing him away. She couldn’t hide the small smile that snuck through. Steve was glad he could lighten the mood a bit after he dampened it earlier. He wasn’t meaning to get into the heated discussion with Celia right before the meeting with Fury, but he couldn’t help himself. It was the last chance they’d have alone and he wanted to make sure she wasn’t going into this thing ready to roll over and submit.

Steve couldn’t get Celia’s question from the night before out of his mind. Did he really trust Fury? He wasn’t expecting her to call out his non answer and may have let a little more of his true feelings slip through than he wanted to. He wanted to trust the organization Peggy helped build. He wanted to trust the man who brought them together to save the world. But he just couldn’t. Trust had to be earned and they just hadn’t yet. And now Celia had to put her life in their hands. The elevator doors opened to the common room floor, Bruce waiting just inside to greet them.

“Cutting it kind of close eh?” Bruce chuckled, leading them to the dining table from the night before. Everyone was sitting where they had the day before, turning to greet the newcomers. Bruce sat down next to Tony this time, across from Natasha. Celia followed, sitting next to Bruce. Steve stood in the entryway, wanting to meet Fury at the elevator before he got to the team.

“Celia, love the outfit. Much better than the time you accessorized with your and Cap’s blood,” Tony joked, a bright smile on his face.

“Tony!” Steve howled, rubbing his temples.

“I don’t know, I kind of liked it. Can I borrow some of yours?” Celia shot back, an innocent smile on her face. Tony looked scandalized for a moment, before smiling and going back to chatting with Bruce about something that went way over his head. Something about thermonuclear fusion. He was glad Celia felt comfortable enough to verbally spar with Tony. Maybe he had been worried about nothing. Steve turned back to watch the elevator, anxious for Fury to show up so they could get started. The anticipation was always the worst.

“What the hell is that?” Tony asked suddenly, making Steve turn back toward the team. Celia was spinning the damn marble on the table and Clint was outright cackling. Celia smirked and rolled it over to the laughing man, who pawed it right back.

“What’s this?” Bruce asked, looking amused and confused.

“Are we cats now?” Tony wondered, looking thoroughly befuddled. Clint regaled them with the story of the marble, embellishing a few details here and there. Natasha was scoffing at the more blatant lies, but didn’t correct him. Celia was rolling her eyes, but still looked amused. So maybe Steve had overreacted about the incident.

“Director Fury has entered the building,” Jarvis’ voice called over the speaker. Celia’s hand slapped down suddenly over the marble, a quiet “sorry” falling from her lips as she tucked it back into her pocket. The rest of the group sat up straighter, preparing themselves for the meeting. All of them except Tony, who slid over to the bar to get himself a drink. Steve stifled a groan, watching Tony pour a healthy amount of brown liquid into a glass. What a nice morning beverage. Steve left the room to go stand next to the elevator. He wanted to get a feel for where Fury’s head was at before he met the whole team, so he could signal Celia to stay quiet if necessary. 

What was he prepared to do, if Fury decided Celia needed to be taken into Shield custody, or some other situation she didn’t want? Would he quit the Avengers and never work for Shield again? Could he make that decision for a woman he barely knew? Could he put her life above the lives of all the people he would be saving in this job? Steve knew the answer had to be no. That Celia wouldn’t even want him to do that. But would he be able to stomach working for a company that could take over an innocent person’s life? He knew he was getting way ahead of himself at this point, but he wasn’t called “The Man with the Plan” for nothing. Steve liked going into a situation knowing the moves that were going to be made. All this just felt unnatural. The elevator doors slid open, Fury stepping out with his signature coat trailing behind him, carrying a black leather briefcase.

“Director,” Steve greeted, giving the man a polite nod. Fury gave him a once over, before nodding back.

“Captain. How’s the shoulder?” he asked in his usual brusque manner.

“It’s coming along nicely, sir. Should be fully healed in the next day or so,” Steve answered, putting his shoulders back to stand taller. He didn’t want to look anything but 100% in front of the other man. Captain America couldn’t show weakness. 

“Well, let’s get this long overdue report over with, shall we?” Fury said, striding over toward the dining room. Steve followed along silently, grinding his teeth harshly. No red flags had popped up yet, but he was still on edge. Tony was still lazing around the room, giving off an air of confidence that was just slightly tense, if you knew how to spot it. Fury was standing at the opposite end of the table from everyone else, his briefcase sitting closed on top. Steve took the seat next to Celia, giving her a supportive pat discreetly on the arm. She wasn’t showing any nervousness on her face, but her fists were clenched under the table.

“Fury, so nice of you to visit! You just don’t come over often enough,” Tony said, dripping with fake sincerity. Fury just ignored him, staring down at everyone at the table. Steve felt kind of like a schoolboy, waiting to be lectured

“Ms. Burke, so glad you could join us. You’re a hard woman to find,” Fury said, looking into Celia’s eyes. Steve could feel her tense a bit, but he kept his eyes on Fury. It made sense that Shield knew who she was already, since Tony had no trouble finding out some info either. But he didn’t like the way Fury said it.

“Not really. I’ve known where she was all this time,” Tony quipped, tipping his glass to the other man before drinking down the contents. Steve would be shocked if he left this meeting without a cracked tooth, with how hard he was clenching his jaw.

“Shield would’ve too, if you hadn’t whisked her away after the incident.”

“That was Cap’s call,” Tony said with a bright smile, happy to get Fury’s focus onto him.

“Yes, my agents informed me of that. Care to explain Captain Rogers?” Fury asked, staring at him now. Was this the right time to explain what happened? Steve didn’t feel like it was. But what else could he say to justify going against protocol? Clint’s girlfriend excuse sprang to mind, but he didn’t want to lie like that.

“Everything just happened so fast,” Steve answered vaguely, knowing how thin of a bullshit excuse that was. Fury squinted at him briefly, seeming to let that answer slide, at least for now. He unfolded the top of his bag, grabbing a folder out and sliding it to the middle of the table.

“Harold Marvin, former molecular biologist,” Fury said, as the team glanced through the file on the table. The picture of the man showed a meek, mild mannered sort of guy. Not the slightly deranged version Steve had encountered in the elevator.

“Former?” Steve asked, figuring Fury meant for a reason other than his recent death.

“He lost his job and was blacklisted after performing unethical tests on animals in his lab. Following the loss of his wife to a degenerative muscle disease about four years back, he became obsessed with the idea of extending a person’s lifespan. When Captain America was found alive in the ice after all these years, his focus changed to you,” Fury explained, pausing when the team got to a photo of what looked like a basement with walls covered floor to ceiling with articles and pictures of Steve. Most of it was from before the ice, but there was a good chunk post Battle of New York. The worst was the section that had been taken of him without him knowing, walking on the street in plainclothes. How long had he been stalked without noticing?

“Someone call Kathy Bates,” Tony muttered, flicking at the corner of the page a bit. Even he looked frazzled, and Tony had his fair share of admirers. Steve didn’t know who Kathy Bates was, but he hoped she could help with whatever she did.

“Marvin became kind of a recluse after his professional disgrace, so we haven’t found any known associates. I have agents going over his whole life with a fine tooth comb, so we’ll find anything that needs to be found, but at this point I’d say his case is closed,” Fury stated, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t look happy, even though his report had been mostly good news. Fury’s gaze shifted back to Celia, who was staring down at the table.

“Well then, it was so nice to see you Nick,” Tony said cheerily. “Say hello to Hill for me and don’t be a stranger.” Fury just ignored him and continued staring at Celia. Well, no more avoiding things now.

“I never got to hear the story of what went down in that elevator, but my techs found the most curious thing,” Fury started, fishing out something from inside his bag. He slid another folder over, opened to show a small stack of crime scene photos. Steve felt his stomach turn at the sight of the close up of Marvin’s head, the side partially caved in due to his punch.

“Jeez, remind me not to spar with you Cap,” Clint muttered, looking at the dead man’s head in disgust.

“My agents were sure, during their brief time in the presence of Ms. Burke, that she was uninjured. So, if you could explain to me how a significant amount of the blood found in that elevator was hers, I would be very interested to hear your answer.”

“Who all knows about the blood?” Steve asked grimly. This was bad news if word had already spread through Shield about Celia. If the agents and techs knew she should be injured but wasn’t, there would be no hiding anything.

“The techs only know about the blood, not about anything else. But I’m ready to hear the rest,” Fury demanded.

“I’ll tell you the truth, but we need to keep this information private for now,” Steve said firmly, hoping Fury would accept what he was saying instead of pushing back.

“And whose idea is it to keep things quiet? Because I know Ms. Burke knows all about hiding things.”

All the eyes in the room turned to face Celia and Steve couldn’t stop himself from doing the same. Celia was still looking down at the table, just the slight hint of a frown on her face. It was the first bit of outward emotion she had shown since the meeting started. Steve knew she didn’t want people to know about her past, but Fury didn’t seem to have any qualms questioning her about it.

“After we figured out your name, it wasn’t too hard to find the address you have listed on your license. When my agents went there to bring you in for questioning, imagine their surprise when they ended up at an abandoned building,” Fury said, sliding a picture of a run down apartment that looked like it hadn’t been inhabited for years in front of the group. “So to recap, a significant amount of blood from a seemingly uninjured woman whose address is a lie.” Steve glanced between Celia and the photo. It put Celia’s mostly bare apartment in a whole new context. Was it even where she lived or had that been a lie? He tried to brush aside these new questions, feeling like he was being disloyal to Celia with these doubts.

“My agents started digging deeper, going through less mainstream channels. We found some interesting information, but it didn’t help us with your current whereabouts. Lucky for us, you showed back up at the tower yesterday with Agent Romanoff.”

“You didn’t mention you told Shield Celia was here,” Steve said to Natasha, trying to keep it from sounding like an accusation.

“I didn’t,” Natasha responded, turning back to face Fury. “How’d you know?”

“I’ve had agents watching the tower since yesterday,” Fury answered matter of factly.

“Excuse me? You have people staking out my tower without my knowledge or consent?” Tony asked, bristling at the intrusion.

“There was an attempt made on a member of this team’s life. Of course I’m going to have surveillance until I know the threat is neutralized.”

“And you don’t think we can take care of ourselves? I thought we saved the world not too long ago, or am I mistaken?”

“And none of us knew that Captain Rogers was being stalked since he came out of the ice, did we?” Fury shot back. He was right about that point. Steve had no idea he was being followed. His skin itched at the thought. “You also had no idea you were being tailed when you went back to Ms. Burke’s real apartment.”

If Celia wasn’t tense before, she sure was now. Steve could feel sitting next to her that her muscles were tensed tight enough to snap. If there was anything that would trigger a reaction from her, it would be anyone finding out about the women she helped.

“Breathe,” he told her quietly, gripping her wrist firmly under the table. Celia looked like what he imagined Bruce did when he was fighting against letting the Hulk come out. He thought back to what Dr. Erskine told him about the serum. It would amplify whatever was inside a person, which is what caused Schmidt’s outsides to match the monster he always was on the inside. Celia had been quick to anger in a few situations, but had also been quick to forgive.

“When one of my people almost gets killed and then I don’t hear anything from them for days after, I take things into my own hands. And when there is a witness to all that with a highly suspicious lifestyle, I’m going to find out the truth, one way or another.”

“She can explain-,” Steve said, before being cut off by Fury.

“Okay,” Fury started, sliding another folder to the team. There was a picture of a man with the word “missing” printed underneath. Celia sucked in a sharp breath, meeting Steve's eyes for the first time since the meeting started. “Explain this.”


	24. Chapter 24

Celia didn’t think this meeting could be going any worse. Okay, maybe if Fury had just come in and thrown her in a cage to take to Shield, that would be worse. But this was a close second. When he brought up finding her fake address, she panicked a little, but kept it together. Sure, it wasn’t a good look for her to be lying about where she lived on official documentation, but she rarely cared about legal repercussions for herself. Celia made her choices knowing that they might come back to bite her in the ass, but everything she did was worth it in the end. 

When Fury mentioned tailing her and Steve to her real apartment, only Steve’s hand on her wrist kept her from jumping up and flipping out. She was so focused on the tasks she needed to accomplish, she didn’t even think to look for someone following them. But she doubted she would’ve spotted any tails if none of the team had either. It was one thing to keep an eye out for a vengeful ex or some local cops, but this was a government agency. It made her physically sick to think she had put Kathy or Deb in danger.

But when she saw the picture in the folder Fury slid over, Steve’s breakfast almost reappeared. Staring back at her was a face she hadn’t seen in years. Not since one of the worst nights of her life. A face that greeted her in her nightmares on occasion still, every time making her wake in a cold sweat. A face that could bring down everything she had ever worked for since she became Celia Burke.

“Do you know who this is?” Fury asked, questioning her directly for the first time since he started the meeting.

“Yes.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“I assume since it says missing under his name that he isn’t in prison where he belongs,” Celia ground out, glaring at the photo on the table.

“Does the rest of the class get to know who this is?” Tony butted in, looking intrigued at the budding standoff.

“His name is Max Turner. He was accused of murder and aggravated assault, but the case was thrown out due to insufficient evidence,” Fury explained.

“Insufficient evidence my ass!” Celia seethed, forcing herself to breathe. “He was a cop and had friends in the courts. They got him off.”

“How do you know that?” Tony asked, looking skeptical.

“I was the aggravated assault.” 

“Okay, so what does this guy have to do with anything?” Tony questioned, looking back at Fury.

“Two weeks after the case was thrown out, Max Turner disappeared without a trace, never to be heard from again. Know anything about that Ms. Burke?”

“Well, it’s not that hard to start a new life where no one knows you.”

“Without taking a single item from his house or penny from his bank account?”

“Sure.”

“Why would he do that, if he didn’t have any fear of repercussions for his actions?”

“I couldn’t tell you why a murderer does what he does.”

“You can’t? Are you sure? Because I think you killed him.”

Steve sucked in a sharp breath next to her, tightening his grip on her wrist where it had been sitting for a while. Celia vaguely wondered how easy it would be for him to crush her bones, thinking back to the picture of the shooter. His grasp was just this side of painful, but she didn’t try to pull away. Any accidental damage would heal. What wouldn’t heal was the team’s opinion of her, if they believed what Fury was saying.

“What evidence do you have to prove that?” Bruce asked, speaking for the first time since the meeting started.

“Enough to open a formal investigation if the right people are contacted,” Fury said, sliding more papers onto the table. “Add to that the fake address, the name change, and suspicious money transfers, I think it’s safe to say Ms. Burke has some explaining to do. Or should I say, Ms. Williams.”

Celia shrugged off Steve’s hand now, the thought of being touched at this point more than she could take. She wanted to run, leave this place behind and never look back, but she knew she couldn’t. Celia stood and paced a few steps away from the group, needing to compose herself before she blew up and made things worse.

“Director that’s-” Steve started.

“How’d you find out her real name? Did you hack the court records?” Tony asked, leafing through the new papers Fury presented. Pages of bank records were displayed to the team, with multiple large transfers to recently opened accounts.

“A name only gets you so far. You can’t change DNA,” Fury said, slapping down another folder. This one held a picture of her from high school, basic blue backdrop and her hair curled just so. To anyone else, she looked like a normal, happy teenager, but she knew better. Celia had been a liar for a long time.

“Where did you find this?” Steve asked quietly, closing the folder to cover the picture of her face.

“A private run database of missing persons. Seems as though Holly Williams disappeared the summer after she graduated high school and her parents have been looking for her ever since.”

“You didn’t-” Celia gasped, trying to compose herself. “Did you contact them?”

“Not yet. Convince me not to.”

“Director, I don’t understand what all this has to do with what happened in the elevator,” Steve interjected. “Celia has told us enough about herself that we felt comfortable enough to have her in the tower.”

“She told you all this?” Fury shot back, looking unconvinced.

“No, but none of us have clean backgrounds. What makes it okay for us to leave the past behind but not her?” Steve asked.

“You all have skills and capabilities that make it worth the risk. Tell me why she deserves it?” Fury demanded, staring down at Steve.

This was the moment she had been preparing for. The point of the whole planning meeting the night before. The thoughts swirling through her head since she woke up that first time and healed after leaving the tower. Telling her secret. Telling the head of Shield, surprise, meet your new problem. But after her whole life was laid out in front of the team, would Fury even believe it? Would he shoot her in the chest to make her prove it? If it worked, great. If it didn’t, one less thing to worry about.

She had been ready last night for this all to be out in the open, truly she had. If Shield was good enough for the team to work with them, they couldn’t be all bad. There might be a lot of questions and maybe some tests, but Celia would knuckle through it, because she knew that was what needed to be done and maybe it would help something in the long run. But having her past shoved in her face like this, taking away her choice to share it, her right to privacy, was devastating. Celia knew, deep down in a tiny corner of her brain, that this wasn’t personal. She let it go with Tony, because he was just trying to protect his team and did seem apologetic afterwards. But Fury, he was just so damn cocky about it. She understood Steve’s hesitance to say he trusted him the day before. Fury might be the person to make the hard decisions to do right by the world, but he had no qualms using and abusing someone to do it. 

“Well, I can heal now,” Celia said quietly, walking back up to stand at the table. “What does that get me?”


	25. Chapter 25

“You heal now? What the hell does that mean?” Fury asked, looking around at the team. Okay, probably not the best way to start the explanation, but she was never one for making presentations. Especially when it was to someone she didn’t like. And she really didn’t like this guy.

“You found my blood in the elevator because I was shot. I’m standing here in front of you because of Steve’s blood,” Celia said simply, a little bit of weight falling off her chest as she said the words. It was out there now and there was no turning back.

“Is this true?” Fury asked, looking back at Steve.

“You think I had her in my tower for shits and giggles?” Tony laughed, walking back to the bar. Fury ignored him and kept staring at Steve, wanting to hear the words from the super soldier himself.

“It is,” Steve confirmed.

“Do you mind telling me how the hell something like that could happen?” Fury demanded.

“Yeah, I mind. After all this, I mind,” Steve stated, surprising everyone in the room. Celia looked down from where she was standing at his side, trying to catch his eye, but his gaze was locked on Fury.

“Excuse me?” Fury said, shock and anger coloring his words a bit.

“It doesn’t matter how it happened because that doesn’t change the outcome. The less people know about the specifics, the better.”

“You don’t think I have the right to know? I put this team together!”

“You think coming in here like this is the way to get people to open up to you? You didn’t parade any of our pasts like this when we came together. There were files compiled that you shared, but it was to help us get an idea of who we all were, so we could work together. You had no idea the circumstances of what happened in that elevator, and yet this is how you approached this meeting? Is this how Shield does things? Because I have to say, I don’t know if I can work with you if this is what I can expect.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying I don’t trust you. And you obviously don’t trust us, if this performance is anything to go by. Do you think we’re gullible enough to fall into the evil clutches of one person? Add to that you have agents watching the tower and don’t even bother telling us.”

“I’ve been kept in the dark for days, what was I supposed to do?”

“Come on Nick. I know you talked to other members of the team, even if you didn’t get the chance to talk to me. This was just spiteful. You wanted to have a gotcha moment and shove all this information in our faces like we can’t figure things out for ourselves,” Steve sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. Celia stood in shocked silence, not expecting Steve to push back against his boss like that. He had told her he’d back her as best he could, but she wasn’t expecting Steve to pull out what seemed to be long standing issues he had with the man.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep this team together? How much work I have to do to keep the council and even higher ups at Shield from coming in and shutting this whole thing down? Just the hint of anything below board could ruin everything we’ve worked for. So you may not like the way I do things, but my way gets results. My way keeps this team in business. And my way is the way things are gonna go if you want to stay a member of this team,” Fury stated, his voice rising as he went along. Celia could see Steve’s face turning red with anger. Even Clint and Natasha couldn’t completely hide the shock from their faces as they watched the two men argue.

“Okay boys, put them away, they are both impressive,” Tony laughed, standing at his end of the table again. “How about we stand down, calm down, and figure this shit out like the rational human beings we pretend to be?” Steve huffed out an exasperated sigh and crossed his arms. Fury just glared at Tony.

“Fury, maybe next time bring your concerns to the team without all the grandstanding and dramatics. There can be only one showman around here and I called dibs long ago. And Steve, maybe next time don’t air out all your pent up work grievances in front of everyone. It’ll only make the other person defensive,” Tony said, looking pointedly at the two men. “Or don’t listen to me. What do I know? I only ran a multibillion dollar company.”

He had a point, Celia conceded. She wasn’t expecting Tony to be the one to guide this train back onto the rails, but she’d be glad if he was able to. Celia figured he’d be happy to get the information his background search hadn’t found.

“I’ll admit, this may have not been the way to go about expressing my concerns, but I stand by everything I said. You said yourself you answer to other people. What happens if they demand you tell them every detail? It is safer for Celia and it is safer for me if that information never leaves this tower,” Steve declared, standing from his seat to look eye to eye with Fury.

“You’re willing to risk everything for one person?” Fury questioned, leaning forward in a challenge.

“She’s in this situation because of me. She at least deserves a chance. I’m not saying we put Celia on the team or bring her into Shield. Just let me handle this,” Steve said, leaning forward a bit too. They stayed that way for a few moments, silently battling, waiting for the other person to back down. Finally Fury sighed, stepping back and closing up his briefcase.

“When’s the last time you committed a crime?” Fury asked, moving around the table to stand in front of her. Steve stayed between them a bit, ready to intervene like he had with her and Tony during their tense moments.

“Yesterday,” Celia blurted out, figuring she should be honest, since the whole team knew about it already. Fury rolled his eye, walking to the doorway before turning and addressing the group one last time.

“Anything happens and it’s on you.” With that, he slid out of the room and into the elevator. Celia’s mind was brought back to when Tony had said those same words to Steve before storming off. She felt sick with guilt over the trouble she had caused these people. She was not worth all this turmoil she was creating. 

This is why Celia preferred to do the behind the scenes stuff, the risky stuff that other people were afraid to do. She would stick her neck out where it was needed so Deb and others like her could do the more day to day living stuff. Celia wasn’t used to having to worry about what she did affecting a whole group of people, let alone a government agency. If Celia went down, she’d go down alone.

“Honestly, that went better than I thought,” Tony piped up from behind her. She heard the sound of papers shuffling and turned around to find him rifling through the folders. Of course Fury had left all of her information for the rest of them to peruse. Celia didn’t even know what all Fury had compiled, but she knew it would be more than she was comfortable sharing, especially this soon after meeting these people.

“Tony,” Steve groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tony started sliding the folder with her photo toward him, before Steve slapped his hand on top of it. Celia appreciated the gesture of trying to preserve some of her privacy, but she figured it was too late. Jarvis probably already scanned the pages into some database and was compiling all the info into a neat little powerpoint presentation to show to the team over brunch. Celia didn’t think she could be around for this part.

“Aw, come on Cap, I’m sure Holly doesn’t mind,” Tony said with a grin.

“I need some air,” Celia declared, hearing Tony say her old name so casually snapping the last thread holding her sanity together. She needed to get away from this place that was all Shield and Avengers and Tony. She stomped over to the elevator, leaving the team behind to do whatever snooping they wanted.

“Wait!” Steve called out, following after her. He grabbed her arm when he caught up and she fought off her impulse to snatch it away. He didn’t deserve it after all he did for her with Fury.

“I’m so sorry Steve, that’s not at all how I wanted this to go,” she whispered, not able to meet his eyes.

“I’m pretty sure it was me that caused all the drama. You barely said anything,” Steve said with a light laugh. Celia grimaced, wishing she had spoken up more. She might not have made things better, but she didn’t see how she’d make things worse.

“I need space. I can’t be here right now.”

“Don’t leave, please.”

“I can’t stay here while everyone dissects my life.”

“Then go up to the roof, where we were last night.”

“I need a break from all of this, just to get my head together,” Celia pleaded, needing Steve to let her go. He sighed, acquiescing with a short nod. She turned to enter the elevator when his quiet voice stopped her.

“You’re coming back, right?” Steve asked. The worry in his voice cut deep into her core. As if she’d let him go to bat for her so hard and then just take off.

“I promise I’ll be back soon. I just need a little time to clear my head,” Celia said firmly, stepping onto the elevator and watching Steve until the doors separated them. Jarvis seemed to know where to take her without her having to say anything and soon enough she was on the ground floor, walking out the doors much like she had that first day. 

There weren’t too many people out at the moment, the small lull in foot traffic between most people getting to work and the tourists coming out in full force. She wandered aimlessly away from the tower, not planning on going far, but wanting to be far enough away from it that she wasn’t in it’s shadow for a few minutes. 

Celia had considered stopping by Steve’s floor to get her bag, but she didn’t want him to change his mind and try to sway her from leaving. And the sight of her taking her stuff might make him worry more about her disappearing. So now she was left to walk around the city with no money or phone. It wouldn’t be the first time, but it definitely cut down her options on where to go. Celia really didn’t plan to be gone long, but she wanted to give the team enough time to get their fill of looking through the files before she came back.

She started to walk toward a nearby park, figuring a quiet bench and some people watching would do for now. The weather was nice and mild and the flowers were blooming, so it might be the perfect, calming moment she needed.

“Don’t make a sound,” a gruff voice ground out from behind her. Something hard poked into her lower back, prodding her along toward the opening of an alley. Was she really getting mugged? After running around half naked in the dark the other night with no issue, now she was being accosted, in broad daylight? Celia glanced around at the people they passed, trying to convey the danger she was in with her eyes. No one was paying attention and she didn’t want to outright call for help, in case any innocent person would get hurt. She could just ride this out and then let the man go. Her new ability would protect her.

They turned the corner into the alley where a van was already waiting. This wasn’t a random mugging.

“Wha-” she started, before a bag was thrown over her head. The man behind her wrapped his arms around her body, pinning her arms to her sides. He forced her forward, dropping her into the back of the van. Celia struggled as she felt him trying to bind her hands behind her back, but froze when she heard the cocking of a gun.

“Don’t move,” another man growled, stilling her movements. The first man snapped cuffs on her and tightened the bag over her head. He jerked her up and slammed her back against the side of the van, so she was sitting up. Celia brought her legs up to her chest, trying to keep herself as far away from the men as she could. She almost fell onto her side as the van took off, speeding away as best it could in the New York City traffic. 

Celia leaned back, trying to catch her breath and listen for anything that could help her in her situation. She thought about all the movies and shows she’d seen where hostages counted turns and figured out where they were being taken, but that was bullshit. She had no idea where she was or where she was being taken. All Celia knew is that she was screwed. And she should’ve listened to Steve.


	26. Chapter 26

Steve stood at the elevator for a while after it left, just running over everything in his mind again. He had been expecting Tony to cause the meeting to devolve into chaos, but it was him instead. Fury coming in guns blazing set off an anger in him that he didn’t like to let out. But everything had just been piling up since the shooting, since the battle, since the ice, and he couldn’t hold back any longer.

It wasn’t like he expected Fury to be buddy-buddy with them or tell them everything about missions and the inner workings of Shield. Steve understood what “need to know” meant from his Army days. But there was need to know, and then there was being purposefully evasive. And there was whatever the hell Fury just did. 

Steve was pretty sure no one would be happy to see their lives compiled into folders and passed out to mostly strangers, even if the person’s life had been sunshine and roses. Fury would probably shoot first and ask questions later if someone found out even the most innocuous fact about him. But for him to do it so casually to Celia made Steve’s nerves rankle. She wasn’t some evil criminal mastermind that the Avengers were going to have to take out and Fury would know that if he could’ve just had patience. Steve probably should’ve called him before now, but he really needed to figure out what all was going on with her before going down that road.

But even if Fury was annoyed by the lack of communication, he should’ve taken it out on Steve. Even after finding out the less than normal stuff about Celia’s past, he could’ve given her a chance to explain. Steve gave the shooter in the elevator more of a chance than Fury gave Celia. He slowly made his way back to the team, ready to do damage control after his unplanned disastrous argument with Fury.

“Where’s your girl Holly?” Tony asked, flipping through the folder Steve had tried to keep from him earlier. Clint and Natasha were looking at the information about the missing man and Bruce was   
looking through the shooter’s file.

“Don’t call her that Stark,” Steve snapped, not appreciating the fun Tony seemed to be having with all this. He was glad the man had been able to help bring the meeting to a close without bloodshed, but he wasn’t happy with him making a joke out of it now.

“Oh lighten up. It’s not a big deal,” Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“It’s obviously a big deal to Celia. Can’t you be a little bit sensitive?” Steve ground out. He knew Tony’s default was to make everything into a joke, but he didn’t need to do it at the expense of someone else.

“You’re just salty because your girlfriend might not be the squeaky clean good samaritan she told you she was,” Tony laughed. Steve clenched his fists, forcing himself to ignore Tony instead of letting loose on him like he wanted. The team had enough issues as it was.

“You have to admit, this missing guy thing is a little weird,” Natasha said calmly, flipping through a few pages to show Steve an incident report. Celia had made a scene at the courthouse after the district attorney decided not to move forward with a trial, enough to have to be escorted off the premises.

“Doesn’t mean she killed him. No body, no murder,” Clint pointed out.

“She didn’t deny it either,” Natasha countered. Clint conceded to her point with a shrug. “Say she did kill this man, what do we do then?”

“I don’t know guys, she doesn’t really give off killer vibes to me,” Bruce piped up, closing his own folder.

“Do I give off killer vibes?” Clint asked, a cheeky yet sinister smile on his face.

“I’m just saying, do you think she’s just going to start killing people now that she can heal at the end of the night, because I don’t,” Bruce said, ignoring Clint’s question.

“I can see the potential of it in her,” Natasha commented idly, a sly smile growing on her face. “She’d definitely start with Tony.” Tony squawked out an indignant sound.

“Oh, it would 100% be Tony,” Clint agreed, wagging his eyebrows at the now nervous man.

“I’d like to see her get past Iron Man,” Tony muttered.

“I’ll talk to her when she gets back,” Steve said, figuring it would be easiest for Celia to talk to him, after all the time they had spent together. He didn’t think she’d lied to him about anything so far.

“When she gets back?” Tony asked, confused. “Where is she?”

“She went for a walk.”

“You let her leave! After all this? There is no way she’s gonna come back,” Tony yelled. Tony was staring at him like he was the dumbest man on earth.

“Of course she’s going to come back. She came back before,” Steve insisted.

“That was before we knew all her secrets! She’s probably half way out of the city by now.”

“She wouldn’t do that. Celia promised she’d be back. And she didn’t even take any of her stuff.”

“And as she pointed out earlier, you don’t have to take anything with you to start a new life,” Tony shot back, shaking his head in disbelief. “We need to tell Fury.”

“No we don’t,” Steve argued. “How did you go from renovating a whole floor for her to siccing Shield on her?”

“That was before when she wasn’t a killer!”

“Oh come off it Tony, we’ve all killed before. What makes it okay for us and not her? And I haven’t seen any evidence of her guilt that isn’t circumstantial at best.”

“Accuse me of being unfair, having a double standard, I don’t care. When she gets back here, I want answers,” Tony declared, going back to the bar and effectively dismissing him. 

Steve sighed, glancing down at the papers on the table. He’d be lying if he said he had no urge to flip through them, get a little more info than he had. He’d been creeped out to learn that students were taught about Captain America in school, but at least the lessons mostly stuck to what he did during the war. If the history books went in depth about his personal life, it would be much more uncomfortable.

“I’m going to the gym,” Steve muttered, ignoring Bruce’s reproachful look. If he couldn’t let loose some of this built up tension, he would explode. He stopped at his floor to change into some workout gear, then trotted down the stairs to the gym floor. He decided to stick to the treadmill. Even though he wanted to do more, it wouldn’t do anyone any good if he set his shoulder back. Steve told Jarvis to let him know when Celia returned, then started his run.

Natasha had set him up with an Ipod a while ago, telling him his long runs were a good chance to get caught up on things he missed. The rest of them would bombard him with playlists of whatever it was they liked, but Steve preferred the audiobooks Bruce would send. A nice story was a lot easier to run to than Tony’s classic rock, in his opinion. 

He didn’t put in his earbuds though, settling into the run with only his thoughts for company. On one hand, Steve wanted to make sure he heard Jarvis when he announced Celia’s arrival. On the other hand, he wanted to give himself a chance to think about the past few days again.

It was hard to believe all this started two short days ago. It seemed like so much longer, but then again, time didn’t really feel the same to him anymore. What was two months ago for him, was almost 70 years for everyone else. 

Back then he was fighting a war and now he figured he still was, just a different kind. Besides the first battle, where it was all about saving the world and surviving, most of what he was fighting was behind the scenes, sneaking in and out. And having to play along with what the superiors wanted. In the Army, you had a clear mission and you executed it. Now, it was about waiting to be dispatched to take out whatever threat Shield deemed worthy. It felt so clinical, instead of being about helping people. Steve wanted to be out doing something good, instead of waiting around for something Fury thought of as important enough to call in the Avengers for.

And he figured that was part of the reason he pushed back so hard against Fury. Steve was unhappy with his role right now and Fury was there to take it out on. Steve could agree with Tony that it hadn’t been the right way to go about it, but he doubted Fury would ever be receptive to any kind of questioning. It didn’t go well when he was confronted about the alien weapons. But challenging Fury now had a few benefits. It helped turn some of his ire away from Celia and onto Steve. And it started the long overdue conversation Steve had been reluctant to start before now. They’d have to settle things soon enough.

His thoughts switched to Celia. Did he want to believe she hadn’t killed that man? Of course. Did he think it was possible she did? Steve figured everyone could be pushed to that point. He would have to confirm it with Celia, but he figured the man had been the one that stabbed her and killed the woman she was trying to help escape. At least he hoped it was and that she didn’t have another person out there who did something to her that could be classified as aggravated assault. If that was the scenario, part of his mind could justify Celia killing the man. Steve had killed people during war, Natasha and Clint killed people during missions. The closest to what Celia possibly did was what Tony had done. Tony hadn’t been working for anyone when he killed the people he did after his capture. The only sticking point is if Celia did it out of self defense or revenge. Revenge was a slippery slope.

But say Celia was guilty of this murder and other crimes they weren’t aware of. What did they do now? Do they turn her over to Shield for prosecution? Celia would never be able to be put in a normal prison, with her healing ability. If that secret got out and how it happened, who knows who would start gunning for him. Would having this ability earn her a clean slate with Shield if they could use her? Natasha was able to do her job after a very dark history. But would Fury even be amenable to the idea after the meeting today.

And what did Celia want to do? The meeting didn’t really settle things like they’d hoped, but he didn’t think she planned on leaving the tower. Steve wasn’t sure if Celia going back to her job was the right call either, but that was just another thing they'd have to talk about. He was hesitant to take away anymore of her choices, after Fury outed her past. Steve wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to wash her hands of all of them.

“Taking it easy there Cap?” Bruce joked from his left. Steve startled a little, so in his own head that he didn’t hear the other man come in. He turned off the machine, annoyed a bit that Bruce was already down here to end his workout.

“I barely got started,” Steve muttered, taking a drink from his water bottle.

“You’ve been down here for two hours,” Bruce laughed, shaking his head. Steve choked on his water a bit, coughing to clear his throat. He hadn’t realized he’d been down here so long. It felt like maybe ten minutes to him.

“Jarvis?” he asked, hoping he had just missed his message about Celia coming back.

“I have nothing to report,” Jarvis responded. Steve ran a hand down his face, cursing the fact that he hadn’t tried harder to keep Celia in the tower. Or at least gone with her. She hadn’t said how long she would be gone, but he didn’t expect it to be this long. 

Steve snatched his towel and marched to the elevators. He really didn’t want to believe she’d run, but a nagging voice in the back of his head, which sounded frighteningly like Tony right now, was telling him it was possible. And with how often she helped other people do it, would he even be able to find her?


	27. Chapter 27

Celia shifted in the seat a little, trying to get more comfortable, even though it was impossible in her situation. She had been sitting with her hands cuffed through the back of a chair for an indeterminate amount of time. All she could focus on was the fact that her butt was asleep. It was easier to think about that instead of the fact that she was completely screwed.

There was a bright side to this so far, in some sick way. The drive hadn’t been terribly long, so she figured she was still in the city. And they hadn’t hurt her at all, yet. During the whole drive she had been terrified they would try to knock her unconscious. If they failed, she’d have to fake it. If they succeeded, her secret would be out, and that would open up a whole new can of worms.

She started to panic a little when the van finally parked, images of human trafficking and illegal organ harvesting springing into her mind. But all that had happened was her being dragged out of the van and taken into a building, to the room she was in now. So all she could do was sit and go over all the details she could remember from before the bag went over her head.

Celia didn’t remember seeing anyone suspicious when she left the tower, but she hadn’t been paying attention. She’d been stuck in her own head, not caring about the world around her. Once again, it came back to bite her in the ass. The man had a normal sounding voice, maybe a little deeper than typical, but that could’ve been to give himself a more menacing quality. When he grabbed her and forced her into the van, she felt his chin bounce off the top of her head, so he was at least a few inches taller than her. And his body felt heavy with muscle when he pinned her down. Celia hoped she’d get a chance for all these details to matter.

She started twisting her hands in the cuffs again, attempting to squeeze a hand out. They weren’t on terribly tight, but her hand to wrist ratio was not ideal for this. Her large hands were helpful in her line of work, but a hindrance in this situation. Celia groaned, giving her wrists a break. She wished she knew what this was about, so she could mentally prepare for what she was going to say.

Was Fury wrong about Harold Marvin not having any partners? Maybe he had help at the building the shooting took place and they knew what happened. It would make sense for them to not hurt her, if they knew about her healing from the gunshot. But Celia didn’t think Fury would sound confident about the case being closed if there was a chance he was wrong.

This could also be about Kathy, or one of the other women she helped. Kathy’s husband was a Marine, and big, so it could’ve been him that grabbed her. But she didn’t think he would’ve been able to find her so easily. The other women were long gone by now and she didn’t know where they were, but their husbands wouldn’t know that, so it was possible it was one of them. Although not hurting her and leaving her to sweat in this room didn’t seem like it fit that scenario.

The worst possibility in her mind would be Shield’s searches on her past somehow sending an alert to her parents or ex husband. As much as it shamed her to admit it, she was more scared of seeing one of them walk in than any other option. It wouldn’t be as bad physically as a torturer would be, but mentally and emotionally, it would wreck her. She could see them having her taken uninjured, so they could keep an air of innocence around them. And so they could break her down themselves. Celia started back on the cuffs at that thought, panic once again settling in her gut.

The sounds of walking pushed past her quiet gasps and she forced her hands to go limp. Celia didn’t want to give away the fact that she was trying to escape. She held her breath, straining to listen for any other sounds. This was the first time she had heard anything since she was left in this room. She heard the low tones of people talking outside the door, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. It sounded like only two people though, so hopefully that was all she’d have to deal with.

The door was unlocked and slowly creaked open, the hinges in need of an oiling. Something to keep in mind if she had the chance to sneak out at some point. One heavy set of footsteps stopped in front of her and she could feel the heat of another body standing too close. Celia kept her head down, going for submissive instead of defiant. It was easier to convince someone you weren’t a threat if you played it scared from the beginning. He stood there without saying anything for a few minutes and Celia had to force herself to keep from moving. She didn’t want any nervous movements to be seen as aggressive movements.

The man slowly started walking around her and again Celia had to resist the urge to follow the sound with her head. Crime shows weren’t her favorite, but she had seen enough to recognize some interrogation techniques. Although she couldn’t really confess anything if she didn’t even know why she was here.

A too warm hand was placed on her shoulder and she couldn’t suppress the jump of surprise. His hand just sat there for a few moments before he lifted it back up and continued his walking. Celia grit her teeth and forced herself to breathe normally. The only plus side to the bag on her head was the fact that the man couldn’t see her face right now. The man stopped again behind her and Celia braced for another unwanted touch.

“What can you tell me about Tony Stark?”

Tony fucking Stark. If she had been kidnapped on account of Tony Stark, she was gonna be pissed. She briefly imagined just telling this guy whatever he wanted to hear, but threw that thought away quickly. She could be petty, but not enough to endanger his and the team’s lives.

“Tony Stark?” the man prodded, gripping her shoulders firmly from behind. This was the first act of aggression they’d shown since putting her in this room, but it still wasn’t painful. She didn’t think it would stay that way though.

“He runs Stark Industries,” Celia said in a steady voice. Even being in Tony’s presence for the short time she was didn’t give her much info on the man. Pretty much all she knew would be easy to find with a quick Google search.

“And?” the man probed, kneading at her muscles a bit. She’d never be able to receive a shoulder rub again. If this was good cop, he veered down the wrong path and went straight to creepy cop.

“He’s Iron Man,” Celia answered, clenching her jaw as the man’s hands gravitated closer to her neck. He rested a hand casually on her throat, not squeezing, but letting her know how easy it would be for him to start. She swallowed thickly, feeling the hand move in response to the action.

“I think you can tell me more though,” the man said, adding just a bit more pressure to his grip on her throat. It wasn’t cutting off her airway, but it wouldn’t take much more force.

“Why would I know anything else?” Celia asked, cursing the fact that her voice was audibly trembling. 

“Well, you were in Stark Tower for quite a while.”

“They give tours to the public.”

“You were in there for a very long time,” the man said, squeezing a slightly harder. Celia’s breaths were coming in a bit wheezier now and she jerked a little in his grasp. He clucked his tongue at her, laying his other arm over her shoulder. “All I want is a little information. He’ll never have to know it came from you.”

“I don’t have anything to tell you,” Celia gasped, biting her lip to stifle a whimper. The feel of his body draped over her was making her sick, and the lack of oxygen from the bag on her head and hand on her throat was making her lightheaded.

“You know, I value honesty. It’s so important to tell the truth. In the spirit of that, I have to let you know that my friends outside don’t like liars. If I go out there and tell them you’re lying, they aren’t going to be happy. And then you won’t be happy,” the man said casually, ducking his head next to hers to whisper the next part. “You want to stay happy, right?”

Celia couldn’t suppress a moan as the man gave her throat one last squeeze, then released her. She panted a little, trying to fill herself up with oxygen while she had the chance. She didn’t like the sound of friends. Either he was lying or there were more than just the two men she encountered so far. There had to be something she could tell them. If she kept at saying nothing, they might deem her useless and kill her outright. But she couldn’t give up any important information, not like she had any. No one had shown her the secret handshake yet.

“I guess I’ve got to go get my friend,” the man said with a disappointed sigh. She heard him walk away from her and knock sharply twice on the door. It slammed open, making her jump. The other person stomped in, moving around to stand behind her.

“Please, I don’t,” Celia whispered, sniffling a little. She was not going to cry. Celia braced herself, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, like during a hard workout. She couldn’t hear them moving, so she just paid attention to her breaths.

Celia froze suddenly, something new flooding her senses that hadn’t been there before. She took another deep breath, not quite believing what she thought she noticed. What she thought she smelled.

Was that Axe Body Spray?


	28. Chapter 28

She had to be wrong. The stress of it all was playing tricks on her brain. This could not be the Shield agent from outside the elevator. Would she recognize his voice if he said anything? The agent had only said one thing that day and she hadn’t been paying much attention in the chaos. She hadn’t even smelled the spray on him, but she trusted Natasha’s memory.

Celia breathed in again, trying to do it inconspicuously, so they didn’t notice her being weird. That was definitely Axe. She went to school during the 2000s and boys went crazy with that stuff. This changed things.

Did Fury set this up? Did he have the agents watching the tower grab her so he could get the info Steve blocked him from? They would definitely know if she tried to feed them false information. But why were they asking about Tony? And why the cloak and dagger act? Was it so Fury could feign ignorance to the team? Unless the team knew about this. Celia threw that thought away, because she refused to believe anyone on the team would do this to her, not even Tony.

“Last chance,” the first man said, gripping her knees and bending down close to her face. She could feel his breath on the sliver of her exposed neck. When she didn’t say anything he snapped his fingers.

“Wait!” Celia called out, racking her brain for a plausible lie. Something to buy a little more time so she could think about this new development. She had to make them think she was still in the dark about who they were.

“Go on,” the man said, replacing his hand on her leg.

“I was applying for a job,” she blurted out. “The process takes a long time and I had to sign non disclosure clauses.” She knew the excuse was shoddy at best, but she was sticking with it.

“Even at the risk to yourself, you’re going to stay quiet?”

“I really need the job. But they haven’t shown me anything classified yet. I promise I won’t say anything if you let me go,” Celia begged, trying to sound as scared as possible. She didn’t have to put on too much, because she was afraid, but she was angry too. If this is how Shield treated people, they were manufacturing their own enemies.

“And this is how you dress to get a job in Stark Tower?” the man asked, flicking at her sleeves a little.

“It was just filling out preliminary paperwork.”

“Why don’t you have a cell phone or wallet?”

“I had to check them at the desk for security purposes.”

“Why did you leave without them?”

“I was just taking a walk. They’re expecting me back and will worry that I’m gone so long,” Celia pleaded, finally telling a bit of truth. She hoped Steve was worried about where she was and didn’t think she’d just taken off. Actually, she didn’t care what he thought as long as he was out looking for her. Celia wasn’t one to sit around and hope for rescue, but she wouldn’t mind it now.

A ringing from behind her startled Celia into jumping, dislodging the man’s hands from her legs. The agent let out an annoyed huff, answering the cell phone with an aggressive flip. He didn’t say anything, but snapped his fingers and stomped toward the door.

“We have a little business to take care of. While we’re gone, think about what I asked you. My friend is getting a little impatient,” the man said, giving her shoulder a friendly squeeze before knocking on the door again. Someone opened the door from the outside, so she confirmed there were at least three people she had to deal with. When she heard the door close, she got to work.

Celia started twisting her hands again, getting them into position. She had been hesitant to go this route in the beginning when she didn’t know who she was dealing with, but now it seemed like the best option. People did this in the movies all the time, how hard could it be? She gripped her left thumb in her right hand, picturing the muscles and joints in her mind. Just a little pressure in the wrong way would do the trick, right? Celia blew out a few quick breaths, hyping herself up. A little pain now didn’t matter, she’d be good as new the next time she took a nap. 

She pulled as hard as she could, her right hand slipping off her thumb without doing anything. Celia groaned and started shaking her hands. Her palms were too sweaty to get the proper handle. She didn’t have time for this. Who knew how long the men would be gone? This could be her only shot. Celia grabbed her thumb again, desperation and anger fueling her. She yanked aggressively, picturing doing this to Agent Axe. The quiet pop sounded obscenely loud in the empty room and she pressed her lips together to stifle any sounds of pain that tried to escape. That surprisingly sucked.  
Celia used her right hand to move the dislocated thumb into a better position. Now her sweaty hands were a plus, helping the cuff slide off with just a bit of resistance. She brought her hands around to her front, ripping the bag off of her head. Her shoulders were aching from being in the same position for so long, so she took time to roll them a bit while she looked around the room.

It was fairly small, barely big enough for the chair and a few people to walk around it. There were no windows and just the one door. She only saw one lock above the knob, but she didn’t have anything to attempt to pick it with. The chair was wood and felt sturdy, but when she tried to move it, it wouldn’t budge. If it was secured to the floor, that eliminated it as a possible weapon.  
What was her play here? She couldn’t take down three armed men, probably not even one armed man. Causing bodily harm to them would probably end badly for her, even if it was self defense. Shield could easily drum up some paperwork proving she was a prisoner of some sort. Her best bet would be to get a message out to someone to come save her.

When Agent Axe took his call, she was sure she heard a flip phone. Celia hadn’t seen regular people use a flip phone in a few years now, except on TV when people needed a burner. But it was her and Deb’s preferred method of communication. And the really basic ones didn’t always have a password. If she could get her hands on his, she might be able to make a call or send out a text. And she knew who she had to call. Steve had given her his phone number that first night and luckily she had taken the time to memorize it.

Celia stood up, stretching out the kinks and trying to get her blood flowing. Her thumb ached, but she ignored it. She walked around the small room, inspecting the walls in case there was some secret escape hatch she hadn’t noticed yet. There was nothing, of course. 

She walked over to stand next to the door, needing to be ready for when the men came back. Celia checked her pockets one last time, finding nothing but Clint’s marble. Maybe she could shoot it out of her mouth and take someone out that way? She popped it into her mouth and rolled it around a little, spitting it as hard as she could into her hand. Well, that was pointless. 

Celia heard a quiet scuff from outside the room and braced herself by the door. If this all went right, she’d get a phone and somehow get them to leave, although she didn’t know how she’d pull that off. If they cuffed her back up, she’d never have a chance.

When the door opened she sprang into action, jumping at the first man through the door. It was Agent Axe and he fell against the doorway with a grunt of surprise. She flailed her hands around him a bit, acting like she was trying to strike him, but really feeling around for where he kept his phone. He tried to grab her around her waist, but she wriggled from his grasp, catching him in the face with a lucky elbow. She snaked her hand into the pocket of his pants, grasping at the small plastic lifeline. Celia turned away from him, slipping the phone into the front of her pants and attempting a backwards kick at his legs. He dodged it easily, turning her roughly by the arm and punching her across the jaw. She fell from the force of it, landing face down and keeping as still as possible, feigning unconsciousness. Another set of footsteps ran up, stopping near the doorway.

“What the hell! Why didn’t you wait for me?” the first man asked.

“Your way was taking too long,” Agent Axe growled, pushing the other man away.

“And she’s gonna answer questions while she’s unconscious?” the first man shot back.

“When she wakes up, she’ll know we mean business!” Agent Axe snapped, poking at her with his foot. Celia kept herself limp, letting her body move naturally in response.

“We need to talk,” the first man muttered, stomping away from the door. Agent Axe followed after him, slamming and locking the door behind him. Celia immediately sat up, leaning back against the door. She pulled the phone out of her pants and flipped it open, almost crying in relief when she didn’t encounter a lock screen. She started pressing in Steve’s number when she heard footsteps thudding back toward the room. Agent Axe must’ve noticed his phone was missing. Celia braced her foot against the bolted down chair, trying to keep the door closed long enough for her to at least send out a text. They were pounding on it, banging it against her back as she hastily typed what she could. The men finally forced the door open, sending her sprawling to the side, hitting send right before the phone was ripped from her hand.

“Who did you contact?” Agent Axe demanded, pointing his gun in her face. Celia kept her hands up, staring down the end of the barrel. She’d done all she could at this point, she just hoped her message was enough.


	29. Chapter 29

Steve slumped into the elevator, directing Jarvis to take him up to the common floor. He had been out for the past hour looking for Celia. He went to her apartment, hoping she would be there, but she wasn’t. Everything looked the exact way she had left it. Steve snooped a bit, even though it made him feel gross and intrusive. But he was desperate to find any clue to where she could’ve gone. 

There was nothing personal around the apartment at all and he almost gave up when he stumbled upon a hidden compartment in the wall next to her bed. You wouldn’t have noticed unless you were looking for it, but there was an extra crack in the baseboards that shouldn’t have been there. He pried the piece of wood away from its spot and found a bag hidden inside. It was a go bag. There were a few articles of clothing, some money, a fake ID, and a cell phone. He thought about putting everything back where he found it, but instead brought it back with him to the tower. Steve wasn’t sure what it would help, but anything was better than nothing.

The elevator doors opened and he slowly trudged onto the floor. Steve hadn’t talked to anyone since he left Bruce in the gym, but he was sure everyone knew what was going on at this point. He really didn’t want to hear Tony gloat about being right all along, but he needed the man’s help if he was going to be able to track Celia down. He still didn’t want to believe she would just take off, especially after telling him to his face that she was coming back. 

But if she had run off, did he want to force her back? If leaving was what she really wanted? Steve could understand Celia not wanting to stick around after the meeting with Fury. She probably figured it was better for everyone if she hid away quietly for the rest of her life. But Steve didn’t want that for her. He didn’t want her to be forced into that life if she didn’t want it. He would have to convince Tony to find her, then promise to let her go again if that’s what she wanted. Steve just needed Celia to tell him to his face that’s what she wanted.

“Why the long face, Cap?” Tony asked, breezing past where he was standing to move further into the room. Steve rolled his eyes, following Tony to the couches. “Where’s your girl? Oh, that’s right, she didn’t come back. Now who could’ve seen that coming?” Steve bit his tongue, knowing it would be easier to get the other man’s help if he didn’t try to argue.

“Yeah Tony,” Steve sighed, sinking down into the couch cushions. He set Celia’s bags on the table in front of him and crossed his arms over his chest. “Will you help me find her?” Tony huffed out an annoyed laugh, shaking his head.

“I seem to recall the last time I tracked this girl, I was the villain. And now you want me to do it?”

“It’s different this time.”

“How?”

“She told me to my face that she was coming back. I just need to make sure she’s okay.”

“What makes you think she didn’t tell you exactly what you needed to hear so you would let her go?”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Steve argued, raking a frustrated hand through his hair.

“I wouldn’t blame her if she did,” Tony said quietly, sitting down across from him. “Sometimes I think back to when Fury first approached me, thinking about how much easier my life would be if I told him to screw off and stuck with that decision. I’d sure save Pepper a few gray hairs.”

“I never expected to hear this from you,” Steve said, surprised to have Tony relating to Celia at all. “You were ready to sic Shield on her from the start.”

“I still think it would’ve saved a lot of trouble, but I can understand where she’s coming from. Not everyone is cut out for this life.”

Steve could agree with him there. Even he felt like he wasn’t cut out for all this sometimes. He barely had any formal military training before he got the serum and then after saving all those troops the first time, he was thrust into the chaos of war. Steve had to learn as he went along and trust his instincts, listening to his team for their advice when necessary. He wasn’t the type to bark orders and not accept any input. He trusted that different people had different strengths and could provide helpful strategy. Steve could see a strength in Celia too. It took a special type of person to do what she did.

His phone beeped and he dug it out of his pocket. Steve didn’t know who would be texting him right now, since the only people who did were in the tower. They could just use Jarvis to send any messages. He unlocked the phone and quirked an eyebrow as he read the text.

“Ax?”

“Are we really talking about body spray again?” Tony asked, scoffing. “I’ll have Jarvis order you a can.”

Steve leapt out of his seat, staring at the small screen. The number wasn’t one he recognized, but when Tony said those words, everything started falling into place.  
“Jarvis, call everyone up here now!” Steve yelled, walking over to Tony and thrusting the phone in his face.

“What the hell, Cap!” Tony yelped, backing away from his hand. Steve just held it there, waiting for Tony to read the word. “Ax? Who sent you that?”

“It was Celia!”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Who else would send this?”

“Maybe it was a wrong number?”

“Oh come on Tony!”

“It’s not even spelled like the spray.”

“What if she didn’t have a chance? What if this is all she had time to send? All she needed was this and we know exactly who took her!” Steve exclaimed, relief and fear hitting him all at once. He was glad Celia hadn’t taken off on her own, but that was severely overshadowed by the fact that she was taken against her will.

“Who took who?” Bruce asked, stepping into the room with Clint and Natasha.

“Miller has Celia,” Steve hissed, handing Bruce his phone. They all huddled around it, staring at the short text.

“Miller? The agent you guys were talking about yesterday?” Bruce questioned, looking back and forth between him and the phone.

“And you got all that from this text?” Clint wondered.

“Think about it. If Celia was picked up by Shield and she only had time to send a two letter text, what else could she have possibly sent that would be this clear?” Steve asked, looking around the room for support.

“Makes sense,” Natasha agreed. “Can’t hurt to look into it.” Steve shot her a grateful smile, glad to have someone on his side.

“Jarvis, can you trace where the text came from?” Tony commanded, walking over to stand with the group.

“The phone no longer seems to be in service, sir,” Jarvis answered. Steve shook his head in confusion, looking to Tony for an explanation.

“Someone must’ve destroyed the sim card,” Tony clarified, looking contemplative. That sealed it for Steve. He snatched his phone back from Bruce and angrily punched in a number. He was going to find out the truth.

“Where is she?” Steve demanded as soon as the other line picked up.

“Where is who Captain Rogers?” Fury asked gruffly.

“Celia!” Steve growled, anger rising by the second.

“When I left she was with you. Are you saying that’s not the case anymore?” Fury questioned, sounding a bit smug. Tony snatched the phone away from Steve’s hand and pressed a button to put the call on speaker.

“Did the agents you have outside my tower mention seeing anything suspicious?” Tony asked, a look of distaste flashing over his face at the mention of the unwanted surveillance.

“I called them off after I left the tower.”

“Was Miller one of them?” Steve probed.

“Why?”

“Just answer the question!” Steve snapped, quickly losing his last bit of patience. Bruce put a calming hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off, feeling the overwhelming urge to punch something.

“Yes, he was. Now will someone explain to me what the hell is going on?” Fury demanded.

“Steve thinks Miller has Celia, so if you could tell us where to find him, that would be great. Cap looks like he’s about to have an aneurism,” Tony explained, shifting away from him slightly. Steve couldn’t blame him, he felt like he was about to explode. If Shield had sanctioned this, he didn’t know what he’d do.

“And what proof do you have of this?” Fury scoffed.

“Nick,” Steve started low, letting every bit of venom drip into his voice, “if you ever want me to work with Shield again, you will tell me where to find Miller and that you had nothing to do with this.” Fury sighed, staying silent for a few moments. Steve bit his tongue, giving the man a chance to answer before flying off the handle.

“Miller’s taken a liking to a particular Shield black site, code name Baker. If he was to go somewhere to be off the grid, that’s where he’d go.”

“We know it,” Natasha confirmed, nodding to Clint.

“Meet us there,” Steve said, ending the call before Fury could respond. He looked around to the team, looks of varying determination on their faces, but all ready to go. “Suit up.”


	30. Chapter 30

“Whose number was that? What did she send?” Agent Axe yelled to the other man, the gun never wavering from its position in front of Celia’s face.

“I don’t know this number. And she texted the word ax,” the man said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Like the tool?” Agent Axe asked, confused.

“Yeah, you want me to call it?” the man questioned, pushing a few buttons on the phone.

“No, stupid. Get rid of the phone and come back. We need a new plan,” Agent Axe directed, turning his attention back to her. The other man slid out of the room, leaving them alone. She didn’t know where the third man was, but that wasn’t the most pressing issue right now. The angry agent pointing a gun at her was.

Celia was scared that Steve wouldn’t know what the text meant, but she was relieved that the agent didn’t seem to understand. She had planned on sending more and then deleting the message from the log, but she didn’t have the chance. Celia hoped it was enough. And she hoped they would be able to trace the number before the phone was destroyed.

“Who were you trying to reach?” Agent Axe asked, leaning menacingly over her. She clamped her mouth shut, the pain in her jaw fighting for dominance over the pain in her hand. The whole side of her face was throbbing and she swore she could feel a couple of teeth loose. Celia hoped her healing ability covered dental trauma.

“I think you know who I am, which means you know who I work for. What do you think my bosses are going to say when I tell them I caught you in a clandestine meeting, spilling secrets about Stark Tower and the Avengers? I had no choice but to bring you back here, to find out what you told people. And when you tried to escape and attack me, I had no choice but to subdue you,” Agent Axe said calmly, running the back of his hand against her swelling cheek. She cringed away from his touch but he grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him. He dug his fingers into the tender area of her jaw, smirking at the small noise of pain she couldn’t stop from escaping.

“Fuck you!” Celia spat out. “They won’t believe you.”

“They won’t? I’m a highly decorated and respected agent. Who are you?” he laughed, giving her cheek a patronizing pat after letting his grip on her face go. He did have a point there. Would Shield take her word over the word of one of their own? Fury wasn’t her biggest fan and probably wouldn’t take much convincing to believe she was doing something shady. But Steve would never.

“It doesn’t have to be that way though. Say me and my guys saw you get picked up on the street, followed you back here and saved the day? Then we’re the heroes, you’re the victim, and we all leave this thing happy,” he offered, rocking back on his heels. Celia blew out a shaky breath, thinking over the second scenario. It was a lot better than his first suggestion, but she couldn’t trust that he would stick to his word.

“Why should I believe you?” Celia mumbled, shutting her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see his smug face. She could really use a rescue right about now. He suddenly grabbed her left hand and squeezed and she couldn’t hold back the shout of surprise and pain.

“You know, I could always just kill you and dump your body,” he hissed in her ear, pressing his gun against her temple.

“Okay, okay!” Celia yelled, tears of pain rolling down her face. He let her go and she clutched her hand to her chest, shuddering breaths racking her body. Celia really wanted to hurt this guy. 

“Atta girl,” he laughed, standing up and walking over to the door. He called out for the other men to come back, his gun still lazily pointed in her direction. She sat there the few minutes it took the other men to show up, steadying her breathing. Celia would play along with the plan until she was free, then go back to the tower to tell the team the truth. She just needed to make these men believe she was agreeable until she got the chance. Celia heard the men run up, staying just outside the room.

“Call Shield and tell them we saw her get snatched. We followed them here and you two took off after them while I stayed behind and found her,” Agent Axe directed.

“And they just happened to bring her to a Shield site?” one of the men asked.

“So I guess we found a mole in Shield too. Even better for us. Just go call this in then get out of here. I’ll contact you later when all this is situated,” Agent Axe snapped, stomping back into the room. Celia glared up at him, wondering what the point of all this was. And why those other men seemed to be willing to go along with what he wanted.

“And what should we do with you?” he asked, stalking back to stand in front of her. “Can I trust that you’ll stick with the story?” Celia wanted to tell him to go to hell, but that wouldn’t help her right now. Letting her anger out wouldn’t help her, but using her brain and being strategic would.

“Put me back in the chair and I’ll pretend to be unconscious. I never saw you and can’t refute your claims if I wasn’t awake for any of this,” Celia suggested nonchalantly, hoping he wouldn’t insist on knocking her out for real to sell the story.

“And you think you can pull that off? Faking unconsciousness?” he asked, looking skeptical.

“I fooled you,” she said quietly, only gloating a bit. Agent Axe snarled a little, reaching down and grabbing her by the left wrist. She yelped and let him pull her up without fighting, wanting him to feel like he was fully in control. He pushed her down into the chair, pulling her arms roughly behind her through the back. He snapped the left cuff back over her wrist, tighter this time, so it was digging into her skin. He tightened the other side for good measure.

“Remember our deal,” he whispered in her ear, flicking her jaw a little before moving back toward the door. Celia grit her teeth, lowering her head into a natural position. It was show time.


	31. Chapter 31

Suiting up meant everyone going to their respective floors, grabbing their weapons of choice, and piling into one of Tony’s SUVs. Natasha was weaving around traffic, Tony having procured an emergency light from somewhere to sit on top of the car. Steve was vibrating with energy from the front passenger seat, anxious to get where they were going. Natasha assured him it would take around 10 minutes, give or take the traffic. He had almost asked Tony to fly ahead, but decided against it. Steve needed to get there first.

“So what’s the plan when we get there? Just let Cap loose and pick off whatever’s leftover?” Clint asked from his spot next to Tony in the middle row of seats.

“Can’t take out Miller right off the bat. We might need info from him,” Natasha pointed out.

“I think the plan should be not killing people,” Bruce piped up from the back row.

“I don’t know if Cap has any restraint right now,” Tony laughed, gesturing to the white knuckled grip he had on his shield. If it had been made of anything else, it would’ve been bent by now.

“I’m good,” Steve growled, glaring back at Tony. He couldn’t deal with Tony being Tony right now. And he didn’t want to admit the man was right. He wasn’t completely confident that he wouldn’t smash Miller’s face in the second he saw him.

“Sure. Maybe let me do the talking when we get there, okay?” Tony suggested. “It’s easier to get answers out of someone if they aren’t shitting their pants in fear.”

“Fine,” Steve grunted, turning his attention back to the road in front of them. He wasn’t planning on talking much anyways. They rode in silence the rest of the way, the streets turning from retail to warehouses. There was still traffic on the roads, but much less pedestrians. Natasha cut the siren, so he knew they must be getting close. Steve took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Going into a mission too hyped up was never a good idea. It made you sloppy. Natasha turned into a back lot, stopping in front of a building. A building with Agent Miller standing in front of it.  
Steve jumped out of the car, stomping up to the man. He didn’t look scared to see them. He looked relieved even. The rest of the team caught up to him quickly, with Tony stepping up to stand by his side.

“Wow, you guys got here quick,” Miller said with a smile. “I wasn’t expecting Shield to send the Avengers for this when we called it in.” Steve squinted at the man, not understanding what he was saying.

“Uhh, what are you talking about?” Tony asked, putting a calming hand on his shoulder. Tony was never one for casual touches when it came to him, so Steve listened to the unsaid direction.

“Shield didn’t tell you?” Miller asked, confused.

“You know how they are. They just send us out without explaining everything. Good thing we have you here for that this time,” Tony said casually. Tony sounded downright friendly even, but if you knew him you’d be able to tell it was fake.

“Well, I didn’t make the call, so I don’t know what all was said, but as we were leaving the surveillance detail, we saw the woman from the elevator leave your tower. We were headed in the same direction and due to traffic we kept the same pace for a bit, when out of nowhere, these guys accosted her and took off with her. We followed along until they brought her here. My colleagues were in pursuit of the culprits while I stayed behind to look for the woman,” Miller recounted.

“Where is she?” Tony asked, squeezing Steve’s forearm to keep him from moving forward.

“She’s inside. They must’ve hit her hard because she hasn’t woken up since I got here. I was waiting out here for backup and paramedics,” Miller said. Steve felt all the blood drain from his face and his breath caught in his throat. Celia couldn’t stay unconscious, not anymore. If she wasn’t waking up, it would mean something much worse.

“Take us to her,” Steve demanded, shrugging off Tony’s hand. Miller nodded, leading them through the empty building. There were rows of hallways with closed doors along each side. They walked for about 30 seconds before they finally came to an open door. 

Steve’s knees almost buckled at the sight of Celia. She was sitting in a chair, slumped forward with her hair covering her face. He staggered forward and fell to his knees in front of her, leaving the rest of the team to watch his back and deal with Miller for now.

This was not how this ended. Celia had fought too hard to die in this shitty room at the hands of someone like Agent Miller. She was only in this situation due to him and he would never get rid of the guilt of her death. It would sit inside him, eating him up. Right next to the guilt over Bucky. He raised a shaky hand to her throat, searching for the pulse he was so desperate to find.

“Celia?” he murmured quietly, cupping her cheek with his hand as his fingers probed. Her eyes shot open at the sound of his voice, and he started a bit, returning her gaze. Her very much alive gaze. He barked out a laugh, feeling lightheaded with relief.

“Hey Steve.”

*

Celia heard Agent Axe leave a few minutes earlier, but she didn’t lift her head. She didn’t want this to be a test to see if she would stick to her word. The thought of being submissive like this was making her nauseous, but that also could’ve been from the pain in her wrists. That pain was winning out over the jaw at this point, with her circulation being cut off, causing her dislocated thumb to tingle and burn. If the cuffs had been this tight in the first place, she never would’ve been able to slip them.

She was nervous about who from Shield was going to show up. She didn’t know how many people knew about who she was. Fury mentioned the techs who tested her blood and looked into her background, but she didn’t think those were the people that would be sent out in the field for something like this. Then there were the agents who were sent on the wild goose chase to her fake apartment. They might not be too happy with her after her fake paperwork wasted their time. She wished the Avengers would come, but she didn’t know if they would be contacted for something like this.

When she heard more than one set of approaching footsteps, she forced all the muscles in her body to relax. It was time to act her ass off until she was somewhere safe and away from Agent Axe. Any sounds of pain would give her away right off the bat. Celia felt the air displace in front of her and she focused on keeping her breaths steady. When gentle hands touched her face, she kept still, even though it hurt her jaw. But when she heard his voice, the feeling of sheer relief forced her eyes open.

“Hey Steve,” she sighed, staring into his eyes. She felt like bursting into tears at the sight of him, but held it together. This was not the time for an emotional breakdown. Steve sucked in a sharp gasp, huffing out a breathy chuckle.

“She’s alive!” Steve called out, his eyes looking a little brighter than Celia usually remembered them being.

“Of course she’s alive,” Agent Axe scoffed from the doorway. “I told you she was just unconscious.” Steve’s face instantly changed to one of pure rage at the sound of his voice.

“Wait,” Celia whispered, stopping him from leaving her to take out his anger on the other man. “Play along.” Steve stared at her strangely for a moment before nodding, backing her choice for the time being. She needed the agent to leave no doubt of his guilt.

“I need keys for these cuffs,” Steve said, looking back toward the door. She could see the rest of the team hovering outside, giving them space instead of crowding the small room.

“Got it,” Clint replied, pushing his way past everyone to step into the room. He moved behind her, stooping down to unlock her wrists. She hissed when he touched her left hand, and he pulled away, not wanting to hurt her.

“It’s okay,” she assured, wanting out of these cuffs now. He went back to it, starting on her right hand this time. The lock sprang open and she carefully pulled her hands to her lap, cradling the hurt appendage. Steve’s hands hovered over hers, wanting to help, but not cause her more pain.

“Want me to reduce it?” Clint asked, gently unlocking the left wrist and tossing away the cuffs. Celia nodded, grabbing Steve’s hand for support. Clint examined her thumb briefly, prodding at the swollen digit. Agent Axe’s rough treatment of it earlier causing more damage. Clint snapped the finger back suddenly, without warning.

“Son of a bitch!” Celia shouted, breathing through the pain. Popping it in hurt worse than popping it out. Steve rubbed her arm as she rode the waves, picturing smashing Agent Axe’s face into dust. He moved her hair behind her ear, inspecting her facial injury.

“I’m gonna kill him,” Steve growled, vibrating with anger. Celia grabbed his arm, pulling him close.

“Not yet,” Celia murmured, pulling herself up from the chair. Steve supported her on one side, while Clint stood by just in case. “Can we get out of this room?”

“Not quite yet,” Fury said, breezing up to the group. Celia froze, not expecting him to show up to this too. They were all bunched up in the small space; Celia, Steve, and Clint in the room, Agent Axe and Fury in the doorway, and the rest of the team in the hall. She was so desperate for some fresh air, but that would have to wait. Hopefully this next part wouldn’t take too long.

“Sir, I wasn’t expecting all this for one little call. I was just doing my job of course,” Agent Axe said, pretending to be sheepish.

“Yes, I heard about your colleague’s call. Pretty lucky you were in the right place at the right time,” Fury said blandly. He raked his eye over her. “You okay?”

“She was unconscious until the team came,” Agent Axe answered for her, giving her a patronizing smile. “I’m just glad I came to the rescue before she was hurt any further.” Celia just smiled back, letting the agent tell the lies that would seal his fate. 

“Is this true?” Fury asked her. Agent Axe was staring at her pointedly, trying to emphasize his threat from earlier with his eyes. Celia sighed, finally being in a position where she was safe enough to let the truth out.

“No, it’s not.”

*

If she could’ve taken a picture of that stupid agent’s face right now, she would’ve. It was such a delightful mix of bewilderment, rage, and fear. He couldn’t have really expected her to lie for him, after what he’d done. His story was so full of holes that even the worst agent would be able to pick it apart. But even still, Celia let him say enough to dig himself so deep that he wouldn’t be able to climb out.

“She’s just confused,” the agent laughed, shaking his head in denial. “They hit her pretty hard right off the bat. She must’ve thought it was me, but it wasn’t.”

“Nah, you didn’t hit me that hard. I’ve seen harder hits,” Celia commented idly, nodding toward Steve. “It was all part of the plan though.” She felt bolstered by having the team there by her side. Pain didn’t hurt as much when you had Captain America there to protect you. And sticking it to the agent was sweeter than morphine.

“I never hit you!” the agent gasped, shock coloring his words. “Why would I hit you after I found you tied up?” He glanced around, looking for support. He must not have liked what he saw because he stared back at her, his lips twitching as if he was fighting back a snarl.

“No, you hit me after I got free and took your cell phone. Thanks for that, it helped me hide it long enough to get you to leave so I could send a text,” Celia said, smirking at the man. “I guess they got it.”

“I helped decode it!” Tony piped up from the hallway.

“What text? I don’t even have a cell phone on me,” he said, spreading his arms away from his body.

“Maybe not anymore, but I got a text and it led us straight to you,” Steve growled, braced for a fight.

“You came because I called this in,” the agent argued.

“We didn’t hear about your call until you told us, Sparky,” Tony snorted. “Or should I call you Axe Man?”

“I’ve been referring to him as Agent Axe in my head,” Celia commented with a grin. “I know you were confused by the ‘ax’ text, but that was all I had time to send. I guess it was enough after all.” The agent looked to the floor, trying to cook up any last ditch plea of innocence. Celia hoped he gave up soon. This grandstanding act was costing her right now. Every word she spoke was sending a lightning bolt of pain shooting up the side of her face.

“She’s lying. You guys have no proof I touched her, because I didn’t. This is the closest we’ve been to each other since I found her cuffed to that chair!” he ended in a shout, pushing his chest out to look confident and strong.

“Check his left pants pocket,” Celia said quietly, a sly smile spreading across her face. Damn the pain, this was the part she had been waiting for since he came up with his faulty lie. Her ace in the hole. The agent’s hand moved down toward his pants before Fury stopped him, searching the pocket himself. Sitting between his fingers was a small glass marble. Clint snorted from beside her, covering his mouth with his hand to keep the rest of his laughs in.

“So what, it’s a marble,” Agent Axe shrugged off, even though he was looking at it in utter confusion.

“It’s my marble.”

“You can’t prove that,” he brushed off, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I can if it has my DNA on it,” Celia smirked, raising an eyebrow at the agent. “I figured I might not make it out of this room alive, so I slipped that into your pocket when I was grabbing your phone. Just to get a little evidence on you without you noticing. And for reasons we don’t need to get into, it has my saliva on it. Shield already has my DNA on file to compare it to.”

Celia could hear the sound of Agent Axe grinding his teeth from where she stood, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. He went from glaring at her, to glancing around at everyone, to glaring at her again. No one there was going to support him, not even Fury.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Fury asked, pocketing the marble himself. She was really gonna miss that little ball.

“I should’ve told you from the beginning, but she was meeting with someone and telling them secret information,” he stammered, licking his lips nervously. “I brought her here to find out what she said.”

“So what was that first story?” Fury demanded, looking unimpressed.

“She begged me not to say anything! That she was sorry and wouldn’t do it again!” Agent Axe pleaded.

“I’ll give you one last shot to tell the truth, or I’ll take you somewhere for a little interrogation of my own,” Fury said calmly, resting his hand on the butt of his gun. Agent Axe gulped, before sagging in resignation.

“I was just trying to get information out of her. She was just supposed to answer some questions and then I’d come to you with it, proving she couldn’t be trusted. No one had to get hurt.”

“Why?” Celia asked, genuinely confused.

“You were supposed to come talk to Shield right out of that elevator, but you didn’t. And then the agents who were looking into you told me you were suspicious. So when I saw you leave the tower alone, I took the opportunity,” he sneered, looking back at Fury. “I was doing it for you! For the good of the organization!”

“Permission to hurt him, sir?” Steve ground out from next to her. Celia grasped him around the wrist, holding him back. Steve could’ve pushed her off without breaking a sweat, but he stayed where he was.

“You all get out of here. I’ll deal with Miller,” Fury directed, glaring down at the man. The agent was cowering a bit, just how screwed he was sinking in. Steve surged forward, grabbing the agent by the neck and slamming him into the wall of the hallway. At everyone’s look of surprise he shrugged, gesturing vaguely toward the room.

“Just clearing the way a bit,” Steve said casually, squeezing the agent’s throat until his face turned red. “Clint, could you help Celia out of here? I’ll catch up.” Clint snorted, guiding her out of the room with a light hand on her back. Celia looked back at Steve before they turned the corner out of sight, seeing him snarl something into the man’s ear.

“Should we leave him back there?” Celia asked the team as they walked out, jolting at the sound of a high pitched scream. She turned to go back but Clint directed her forward with an arm around her shoulders.

“He’ll be out here soon,” Clint brushed off with a grin. They stepped through the last door, the bright sunlight making Celia squint. She was half surprised it was still daytime, the ordeal feeling like it had gone on forever. She stood there for a few seconds, leaning her face toward the sun and breathing in the fresh air. Celia felt herself aching for the carefree feeling from last night, standing on the roof with Steve and just letting everything else go. But now she had another shitty healing session looming over her, the worst one since the first shot that started it all.

“Let’s get in the car. I want us to be ready to go by the time Cap finishes his therapy session in there,” Tony said, trotting toward an SUV. “I call shotgun!” The rest of them followed, Clint and Natasha arguing over who would drive this time. Bruce stuck beside her, watching her with a close eye.

“I’m not gonna keel over,” she said lightly, feeling pretty steady on her feet now that they were outside of the building. Bruce chuckled, shrugging a little.

“That may be true, but Cap would kill us if anything else happened to you,” Bruce replied, helping her into the middle row of the car. He gently touched her swollen jaw, making a soft noise of disgust. “You might have a fracture here. Let’s get some ice on it when we get back to the tower, until you’re ready to take care of it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Celia agreed, resting against the seat as Bruce climbed into the back to sit with Clint. Tony and Natasha were arguing in the front about what to put on the radio and Clint was muttering about always being stuck in the back. It felt comfortable. More comfortable than any of the other times she had been around the team, especially without Steve around. It warmed her up a bit that the whole team came to rescue her, even though they didn’t need to. Maybe staying in the tower wouldn’t be so bad after all?

“Are you okay?” Steve’s voice called out from in front of her, startling her eyes back open. She hadn’t heard him come up while she was resting.

“I’m good,” she assured him, letting him fuss over her a bit to see for himself. He gave her a quick once over, his eyes going dark every time they passed over one of her injuries. Once he was finished checking her over, Steve swept her up into a tight hug, careful of the tender areas.

“Don’t ever do that again,” he whispered in her ear, holding her against him. She nodded, the relief of feeling safe stealing her words.

“Hug her from inside the car, Cap!” Tony yelled, breaking up the moment. Steve groaned, rolling his eyes. Celia slid over after they broke apart, making room for Steve to climb in. He buckled her seatbelt for her, making her laugh. She had the feeling Steve was going to treat her like she was made of glass for a while. Celia would let him have that comfort for a little while. Natasha smoothly pulled the car out onto the street, driving back toward the tower. Celia leaned against Steve like they had sat in the cab, letting Steve watch over her.

“Okay, I can’t take it anymore!” Clint called out suddenly from the backseat. Celia eyed him warily, waiting to hear the cause of his outburst. “Why was your saliva on that marble?”


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for mention of pregnancy loss

The ride back to the tower was nice, just listening to the casual banter of the team. This is what she had imagined the team was like all the time, teasing and chatting and just at ease around each other. She hoped her arrival was only a momentary hiccup in their normally well oiled machine. 

Celia sat tucked up under Steve’s arm, holding her left hand carefully in her lap. It felt a lot better after Clint reduced it, but she knew it was going to suck during the healing after she fell asleep. She didn’t even want to think about how bad her jaw was going to hurt. Celia hoped Bruce was wrong about the possible fracture, but she didn’t think a bruise would hurt this much.

When the car pulled into the garage of Stark Tower, Celia felt a wave of contentment. It was so different from how she felt the last time she was in this garage, right after the shooting. She was so scared about what had happened to her and what would happen in the future. But after today, she knew she wouldn’t have to go through it alone.

They all climbed out of the car, Steve sticking next to her like glue. It was still weird for her to think that tomorrow, there would be no physical evidence of what happened to her. She was glad for that, but she wished the healing took care of the emotional scars left over too. But it wasn’t like there was anyone she could talk to about this, mental health professional wise. Even with privacy laws, she could never tell people this secret. And talking to Steve about it would bring out those sad, guilty eyes that she worked so hard to get rid of. But maybe this would get easier in time. It wasn’t like healing a broken jaw would be the norm for her. Just the usual day to day living wear and tear.

“You want to head back to our floor?” Steve asked, before stepping onto the elevator.

“Sure,” Celia agreed, not commenting on Steve using the term “our floor” when talking about his own.

“Make sure you ice your jaw, if you aren’t planning on going straight to bed,” Bruce reminded her.

“Oh, I don’t think I have ice in my freezer,” Steve said with a frown.

“We’ve got some on the common floor,” Tony said, directing Jarvis to take everyone there. Celia just accepted it, leaning against the side as the elevator took them up. She didn’t really care about her fear right now, figuring Tony wouldn’t do anything weird while everyone was in the same car.

The doors slid open and everyone got off, spreading out in their own directions. Natasha and Clint went to the couches, Tony went to the bar, and Bruce walked off to the kitchen. Steve stayed by her, depositing her in a dining room chair before sprinting off in search of ice. Celia raked her eyes over the files still sitting on the table, drawn to the one with her face on it. Did she want to open that can of worms? To see what all could be found out about her? She could only imagine the sob story her parents would put on a missing persons website about her. 

When she had left home at eighteen, she never looked back. Not even during the worst times. She had left for a reason and nothing good would come from her backsliding into that situation. She’d even stopped herself from looking up any info on them. That part of her life was over and it was smarter to keep it that way. Celia was sometimes able to forget they even existed, and she preferred that. But now, being confronted by even the smallest bit of that part of her life, it was hard to ignore.

“You know, sometimes I wish my life could’ve been a bit more private,” Tony said, stepping over to the table. “Growing up like I did, in the public eye. All those expectations, everyone around to witness every failure. As I got older, I stopped caring. If people were going to watch my every move, I was gonna give them something worthwhile to look at. There isn’t really anything about me that you can’t find online. Now, I know that’s not the same for everyone. The wonder twins have their pasts locked down tight, but I know the kind of dark things that lurk in their shadows. So I can accept less than savory choices that were made in the past, if that person is up front about it in the present. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“You want to know if I’m capable of murder? So you aren’t blindsided if I do it again?” Celia asked bluntly, thinking she had a good read on what the man was saying in a roundabout way.

“Pretty much. We all know what we’ve done and what we’re willing to do. It would help me rest easier having you in my tower if I could say the same about you,” Tony said, closing all of the folders and sliding them to her. “As much as I love having all the details, I don’t need to know everything. I have enough of an idea of your background to understand why you’d want to keep it private. But I think you know what I do need to hear. What we all need to hear.”

Celia blew out a breath, knowing Tony had a point, but scared to tell this secret. Would Steve look at her differently after? Would Tony insist she leave and never come back? There wasn’t really any avoiding this now that Fury opened up Pandora’s box.

“Okay,” Celia agreed quietly, running her finger along the stack of papers. Why not make this shitty day worse?

“What happened?” Steve asked, coming into the room with her ice pack. He must’ve noticed the look on her face. He gently pressed the cold bundle to her cheek, wincing in sympathy when she grimaced in pain.

“Tony and I were just talking,” Celia said, taking the ice pack from Steve to hold against her jaw.

“About what?” Steve asked, glaring at the other man. Tony backed away with his hands up, gesturing to her to take care of it.

“I owe you guys an explanation about this,” Celia answered, tipping her head toward the files.

“That can wait. You should go heal first,” Steve argued, cutting his eyes over at Tony again. Tony shook his head and left the room, not wanting to be anywhere near an angry Steve right now. They had all heard the screams of Agent Miller.

“No, I want to do it now. It’s going to be hard enough to force myself to go to sleep, knowing what’s in store for me. I can’t have this looming over me as well,” Celia admitted, tapping her foot a little. She was nervous, but also ready to have this out in the open.

“Okay,” Steve reluctantly agreed. “Do you want to do this here?”

“Let’s go back to the main room. We should all be comfortable for this, right?” Celia said with a chuckle, letting Steve help her up, even though she didn’t need it. She was steady in her resolve.

Everyone was already on the couches when they got there, Natasha and Clint arguing about something in a language she couldn’t pinpoint, and Tony and Bruce looking over something on a tablet. Celia walked over to stand in front of the windows, her anxiety making her too restless to sit. She nudged Steve to go sit with the rest of the team, needing to be on her own for this. 

“So before we start this, I need to ask for a favor,” she started, getting everyone’s attention. “I need you to promise to not look into anyone I mention in this story. That if you feel someone needs to answer for anything, it’s me.” Celia stared at Tony, knowing he was most likely to snoop.

“Okay,” he agreed warily, glancing around to the other people in the room. She figured that was the best she was going to get, so she began.

“One of the things abusive people like to do is isolate their victims from loved ones. It can be done in a lot of different ways, but the end goal is the same, to make themselves the only person the victim has and to make it harder for them to leave. That’s where someone like me comes in. I joined up after they helped me get back on my feet and I saw how important the work was that they were doing.

My first ‘client’ I guess you could call her, was only a little bit older than me, but our stories were so similar. She left home young and got married because she was so in love. At first it was like a fairytale, but over time, things started to change. A harsh word here, checking a cell phone there, then maybe a push that was just an accident, but maybe you deserved it. Then it gets a little worse and you threaten to tell, threaten to leave, but they tell you no one will believe you, because they have the powerful job and important friends. So you try to keep your head down and try to keep the peace, but it doesn’t work, because you were never the problem to begin with. And then things escalate and you know it’s time to run, but you don’t have anyone to turn to, so when you hear about a group that will help women like you, you take the leap of faith and ask for help,” Celia said, pausing to turn the ice pack on her jaw. She didn’t really need to do it, but she was getting to the hard part of the story and needed to collect herself before continuing. Would it be cowardly for her to face the window for this next part?

“We had everything ready, it was all perfectly planned out. I was picking her up from her apartment, she had insisted she needed this chest that had been passed down from her grandmother and she couldn’t carry it herself. He was an hour into a ten hour shift and there was no reason for him to be home, but he just showed up. We tried to play it off like I was a new neighbor stopping by, but he knew we were lying. When I thought about it later, I figured he must have had a camera hidden that sent him an alert, because the timing was too perfect.

So he started grabbing her and shaking her and she was crying and I didn’t know what to do. He was a police officer in uniform, he was carrying his gun and everything, but I couldn’t do nothing, so I tried to pull him off. She just needed a chance to get away. I don’t remember much of the next part and I don’t know where he got that knife, but as I was laying on the floor bleeding out, she started begging,” Celia broke off to take a shuddering breath, closing her eyes so she didn’t have to see the team’s faces. “She hadn’t told me she was pregnant. I don’t know what I would’ve done differently if I had known, but it might’ve changed something. The last thing I saw was her begging him to spare their baby and him kicking her in the stomach.”

Celia did turn around now, facing the window while she muffled her sobs with her hand. Of all the things that had happened to her in her life, this was the thing that haunted her the most. That poor girl, so close to freedom, to a new life with all the possibilities in the world, murdered in cold blood while she pleaded to save the life she was growing inside of her. Celia took a few moments to collect herself, wiping at her eyes before she faced the team again. Bruce looked horrified, while the rest of them looked angry. Steve looked like he was debating getting up to comfort her, so she got on with her story before he could. She didn’t want to be touched right now.

“You guys already heard about him avoiding charges, so I’ll skip that, but when I found out, I was furious. I didn’t care about what he did to me, but for her to not even get justice, I couldn’t let that slide. So I started digging into his past, looking for anything I could find to bring to the courts, just to make him face the consequences for something. But everything was wiped clean, not even a reprimand. I tried to let it go, because obsessing over him was killing me, but when I saw him out one day with his arm draped over another woman’s shoulder, I knew I had to do something. This was not going to happen to another person if I had anything to say about it.”

Celia’s jaw was throbbing from all this talking, but she couldn’t stop now. She was finally getting to the part that could ruin everything she had, but she couldn’t run out of steam now.

“I never knew why she wasn’t in contact with her family, if it was due to her husband’s influence or that it was a bad situation, but it didn’t matter at this point. No one could hurt her anymore. I found her family and contacted them. One person I talked to took it particularly hard, which was to be expected. They asked for his address and I gave it to them. Max Turner was never heard from again.”

“Is that it?” Tony asked quietly, glancing away from her.

“If you want me to leave now, I understand. And if you want to call in Shield or the regular police, I won’t fight it,” Celia declared, ready to accept whatever repercussions they saw fit. What she wasn’t going to tell them is that she didn’t feel guilt over what she did. If she could go back, she would still call that man. And the only thing that got her back to sleep at night after a flashback of that poor woman’s murder was the hope that he felt how his wife did when she died.

“Before I was kidnapped, if you had asked me if I was capable of taking someone’s life, I would’ve said no, of course not. But after they did what they did, the need for vengeance was all I could think of. Does it make it right? Maybe not. But it’s understandable,” Tony said, looking at the others for any arguments. They all seemed to accept his reasoning.

“So now what?” Celia asked, not sure where they would go from here.

“Now we figure out where to put you. You still don’t want your own floor?” Tony asked casually, scrolling through his tablet.

“What? Just like that?” Celia questioned, bewilderment all over her face.

“Are you responsible for any other deaths?”

“Well, no.”

“Are you planning on killing anyone else?”

“Of course not!”

“Then yeah, I think that covers it. Now, I’ve got work to do. And you should probably go do your healing thing, because you look like shit,” Tony laughed, standing up and gliding out of the room. 

“I need to go punch something. Cap hogged all the action,” Natasha moaned, slinking out of the room with Clint on her tail.

“I guess I’m going to get punched!” Clint called out, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

“I’m gonna go do some more stuff with your blood,” Bruce said, scrunching his nose when he thought about what he said, then shrugging it off and walking away. Celia looked toward where Steve was still sitting, worried about what he was thinking. He hadn’t said anything since she had started her story. Would he feel differently than the team? Would he want her to find somewhere other than his floor to sleep?

“If you want me to leave, I understand,” Celia whispered, giving him another chance to tell her his true feelings. Steve stood slowly, walking to stand in front of her. She looked at the floor, not wanting to look into his eyes if he was about to tell her to leave. He put his arms around her, pulling her into his chest.   
Celia let out a sob of relief, letting go of the fear that she would be cast out after her past was revealed. He held her while she hiccuped and moaned, the pain of the last few days, the last few years, her whole life was purged out of her soul. They stayed there for a few minutes until she quieted down, pulling away and replacing the almost melted ice pack on her jaw. Steve wiped away the tears on her face like he had in the bathroom on the first day, smiling softly down at her.

“Let’s get some sleep.”


	33. Chapter 33

Celia sighed, waking up slowly. When they had gotten back to Steve’s floor, he sent her off to the bathroom to get cleaned up and she got her first look at herself since the team found her. She understood now why Steve was looking at her like she was going to drop at any moment. The whole lower left side of her face was swollen, with the start of splotchy discoloration highlighting the point of impact. If she was anyone else, tomorrow her skin would be black and blue. The thing she wasn’t expecting was the red marks around her neck. Celia didn’t remember being choked that hard, but there were clear finger marks around her neck. No wonder Steve had grabbed Miller around the throat back in that room. He may not have been the one to do the choking, but he was the reason she was there to begin with. 

There had been no doubt this time where Celia would sleep, burrowing down in the center of Steve’s bed. He seemed to know what she needed, sliding in next to her and holding her tight to him again. Steve started talking, Celia listening to the low rumble of his voice through his chest until she fell asleep.

The healing had been excruciating and she clutched onto Steve like a lifeline. He rubbed her back as she sobbed and whimpered, soaking the front of his shirt with tears. Something had definitely cracked in her jaw, because the feel of it moving back ever so slightly almost made her throw up. Afterwards, she had fallen into an exhaustion and trauma induced sleep, with Steve still by her side. 

And that’s how she woke up, with Steve curled around her back and snuffling with his nose in her hair. Celia couldn’t stifle her giggle when his breath tickled her neck and he started to stir. He gripped her tighter as he began to wake up and Celia could tell the exact moment he realized where he was when he flinched backwards, a tiny sound of embarrassment escaping his lips.

“I’ve got to be doing terrible things to your sleep schedule,” Celia laughed, rolling over to face him. He had that youthful, sleep tousled look she was growing so fond of.

“I actually don’t usually sleep so much. Or so well,” Steve admitted, glancing away awkwardly.

“I’m sure Tony could build you a robot to cuddle at night,” Celia suggested with a grin, enjoying the look of horror that crossed his face.

“Wouldn’t that be a grand conversation to have with Tony?” Steve snorted, rolling onto his back. “How do you feel?”

“Good as new,” she assured him, wiggling her newly healed thumb. 

“It was interesting, to say the least, seeing all the marks disappear so suddenly,” Steve commented, his brow furrowed in memory.

“Weirder than in the elevator?” she wondered.

“Well, that was mostly covered by your shirt, but coming back to life will be a hard one to top,” he acknowledged, scrubbing a hand over his face to get rid of the last bits of sleep.

“Now what do we do?” Celia wondered. She didn’t even know what time it was.

“I have a message from Mr. Stark that was to be delivered once you, and I quote, ‘stop spooning and get out of bed’,” Jarvis intoned. Celia held in her gasp of surprise at the sound of the computer,   
only twitching a little. Progress.

“What is it Jarvis?” Steve asked, sighing in resignation.

“Mr. Stark would like you both to meet him on the 50th floor,” Jarvis directed.

“What’s down there?” Celia asked, rolling out of bed.

“I don’t know, I don’t usually go that low. I think it’s part of the Stark Industry floors,” Steve said, following her out of the room. Jarvis already had the elevator doors open and waiting for them. 

“It’s not a prison floor, is it?” Celia questioned, only half joking. She wouldn’t fault the man if he had changed his mind about her.

“Nah, that’s floor 60,” Steve answered casually, bumping her with his elbow. 

“I’ll be sure to steer clear,” Celia laughed, stepping out onto the floor when the doors opened. The whole floor was under construction, most areas covered in plastic tarps and the smell of fresh paint lingering in the air. They stepped carefully around the open space, searching for Tony.

“And you’re sure this is the shade she asked for?” Tony asked a frazzled looking construction worker. “Pepper was very specific about the shade of white she chose. She said it was specially formulated to promote healing.”

“Yes sir, everything has been triple checked,” the man bit out through a tense smile.

“Great, because if it’s wrong, I’m telling Ms. Potts it was your fault,” Tony sneered, dismissing the man with a wave of his hand. “So hard to find good help these days. But look, help has arrived!”   
Tony welcomed them with his arms open, spinning around in a circle to show off his surroundings.

“Did you call us down here to paint?” Steve asked, looking utterly baffled. Tony rolled his eyes, turning to face her.

“What do you think?” Tony asked, gesturing again to the room.

“Uh, it’s nice. What’s it going to be?” Celia questioned, hoping Tony wasn’t going ahead with the idea of making her a personal floor in the tower.

“Well, one of the things I’ve been working on is sort of a clinic floor in the tower. Somewhere for my employees to go for any minor injuries or illnesses. And somewhere for the team to go to get patched up after missions. Since some of us might need more specialized care than others,” Tony explained, tilting his head toward Steve. Now it was Steve’s turn to roll his eyes. “Since you’re going to be staying here, it would make sense for you to work here too. You wouldn’t really fit with the Avengers, unless you’re planning on being a human shield, so I thought you might like to make use of your legitimate career as a physical therapist in my clinic. No pressure though, but I’d probably pay you better than your current job and I’m 100% certain you’d have a better commute.”

“Wha-” Celia spluttered out, shocked by Tony’s proposition. Just days ago he was ready to throw her to Shield, and now he had offered her a place to live and a job. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say yes. It’s easier for everyone that way,” Tony said with a cocky grin. “Let me show you where I was thinking of putting your office.” He grabbed her wrist and started leading her through the maze of construction. She glanced back at Steve, who looked as surprised as she felt. The rest of the team was milling about now, making bets on who would need to use the new clinic the most. They ducked under some low scaffolding, walking to the corner of the floor. Two of the walls were the same floor to ceiling windows that still took her breath away.

“Corner office,” Tony bragged, wagging his eyebrows at her. 

“This is too much,” Celia breathed out, looking at the view. “But I’m guessing this is normal for you.”

“Pretty much. If I’ve got it, might as well use it,” Tony agreed, standing next to her to stare over the city.

“So are you saying yes?” Steve asked, walking into the room with the rest of the team. A construction worker pushed past them all, climbing onto some scaffolding to drill into the wall.

“I guess,” Celia shouted, trying to be heard over the new noise.

“Great! But maybe we should discuss this somewhere else,” Steve yelled back, the worker now using a nail gun. The team agreed, turning to leave to a quieter area. Steve let the others go by, waiting for her with a big smile.

Just then, the worker shot a nail into a patch of wall and blew out a cloud of dust. He choked on it, flapping his arms and falling backwards off the scaffolding. Steve caught the man before he hit the ground, but couldn’t catch the nail gun that fell with him. A nail burst out, heading right for Tony’s face. Celia’s hand shot out, instinct taking over. A nail through a hand was much better than a nail through the face.

Everyone froze for a few seconds, Tony staring straight ahead and Steve holding the construction worker in a bridal carry. The rest of the team rushed in, wanting to see what all the commotion was about. Celia still had her arm outstretched, but there wasn’t a nail through her palm. Gently held between her index finger and thumb was the nail, mere inches from Tony’s face. They were all staring at her in shock and of course, Tony was the first one to speak.

“Well, I guess that changes things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all she wrote... for now. Thanks to everyone who read this story and to everyone who gave great feedback. I have plans to continue this in another story, so keep your eyes open for that if you enjoyed this one.


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